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Shinji takes just the slightest different action when Asuka offers a kiss... and everything changes. Suddenly, they're no longer alone, and begin becoming stronger than they've ever been before. And from their new bond changes start to ripple out. The Angel War and the plans of SEELE and NERV will never be the same.

Advice and Trust is a For Want of a NailNeon Genesis Evangelion fanfiction written by Strypgia — author of A Crown of Stars — where the events of a fateful kiss take an unexpected turn...and lead to Shinji and Asuka becoming a couple. Action, humor, suspense, and loads of WAFF await as the two struggle to keep their relationship under wraps, all while continuing the fight against the Angels.

Chihiro Tanaka is this to Shinji. Beauty is not the issue — she is a beautiful girl, but she chases Shinji obsessively, even though Shinji has already said he is not interested and he very obviously likes another girl (and Chihiro is aware of that). In addition, Chihiro treats him like a prize to be won (which he hates), and when she tries to flirt with him she disses Asuka and Rei (which he really hates).

Asuka had a horde of boys chasing her as well. In chapter 8 she argues with Shinji about their unwanted admirers:

Shinji: "Maybe that will finally get them to stop chasing me like I'm a prize to be won. [...] How come I'm the one with the pack after them? You were ten times as popular as I was, a week after you arrived, miss incredibly-hot-exotic-foreign-transfer-student. I know Touji and Kensuke were making crazy amounts of cash selling beauty shots of you almost right away. Why haven't I had to chase away a pack of boys drooling after you?" Asuka: "Because I already had them properly terrified and respectful after I mashed the first two flat when they tried to ask me out the week I got here and refused to take 'no' for an answer, [...] Putting a couple of them on the ground with a few punches when they got rough taught the others to keep off. You're just too polite and sweet to girls to scare them off, my darling baka."

Above the Influence: In a scrapped scene, Rei tried to make a move on Shinji and Asuka when she was heavily medicated, insisting that she was more than clear-headed enough for making such a decision, and the detox was mostly just messing with her inhibition not to hit on them. Even so, Shinji and Asuka tried to resist.

Abusive Parents: During their talks Shinji tells Asuka how he was abandoned by his father only to be called ten years later because his father needed him to pilot a giant robot; and Asuka explains to Shinji how her father cheated on her mother, and after her demise he married his mistress and refused to take care of his own four-year-old daughter. Although the worst would be Asuka's stepmother, who put her on benzodiazepines (which are incredibly dangerous when used improperly) to make her "a placid little doll".

Accidental Pervert: In chapter 6 Rei tells Asuka how Shinji accidentally fell on top of her when she was naked. Asuka is not happy about it, but since it was an accident, she lets it go.

Accidental Truth: In chapter 4 Asuka thinks that Rei was acting less like a teenage girl than like an alien that looked like one... which is actually true since Rei is an alien being's soul stuck inside a human girl's cloned body, but Asuka did not know that at the time.

Misato also refers to their counter-conspiracy as "the side of the angels" during the Christmas party (in the "good" sense, not in the "Eldritch Abomination" sense). Said group is run by Rei and Kaworu.

Accuser of the Brethren: Asuka refuses to forgive Ritsuko for all the horrible things she did to Rei, even after Rei herself forgives her. However, she never makes her contempt known directly.

Asuka: I don't care how guilty she feels now. She's going to need a miracle to get on my good side again. She hurt you, Rei, and you know how I feel about people who hurt the ones I... care about.

Ace Pilot: Asuka is the best Humongous Mecha pilot in the base, having trained since she was four and devoting her life to it. As they bond, Shinji and Rei also improve their performance with their war machines.

Adorkable: Maya is a lovely, nice, clumsy young woman with a tendency to embarrass herself when she talks to her not-so-secret crush. Said crush thinks that she's "adorkable".

'...I bet Mayas a completely adorkable dancer.'

Adult Fear: When they talk about the conspiracies surrounding NERV, Asuka begs Misato to be careful and keep herself and Kaji alive and safe. If they die, it'd be the second time she's lost her parents. And she's only fourteen.

Affectionate Nickname: Asuka and Shinji both refer to Rei as "our Rei", which basically hangs a lampshade on the Threesome Subtext between them. It's affectionate nature becomes especially apparent in chapter 11, when she reveals her true nature to Asuka.

Shinji and Rei keep watch over Asuka after she almost gets killed fighting Leliel.

Ritsuko was hurt during the battle against Zeruel. Maya spent the whole day waiting for her to wake up, and Misato visited her friend afterwards.

After extracting Hikari from her giant robot, Shinji and Asuka sat by her side until she woke up. Touji also visited her.

Ritsuko was hurt and put in a hospital bed when Unit-00 went berserker. Rei talked with her while Ritsuko was still resting, and Maya took care of her after Rei left. A key part of Ritsuko's HeelFace Turn was the fact that Gendodidn't visit, and when they next spoke after she regained consciousness, his primary concern was when she'd be ready to return to work.

Age Lift: Strypgia bumped the main characters' age up by a year (stretching the Angels' attacks timeline so that over one year has passed since Sachiel and Shinji came to town) so that he doesn't "feel quite as awkward having them going at it hammer-and-tongs nightly").

Agony of the Feet: Asuka gets shot in the foot during an assassination attempt. She doesn't particularly care, though; she's more concerned about her boyfriend and several of her friends having to be hospitalized.

Air-Vent Passageway: Rei has apparently memorized the vent system at NERV HQ to the point she knows how to use it to get around the base unseen. In Chapter 11, she uses this to get from Ritsuko's lab to the room where Kaworu is healing after SEELE's attack on all the Pilots.

Alcohol Hic: In the prologue Misato talks to Shinji after knocking back seven beers, hiccuping and slurring while she gives relationship advice.

All Just a Dream: Ritsuko does this in chapter 9. She's lying next to Maya after a fabulous and romantic date... and then she wakes up and realizes that she was dreaming.

Alpha Bitch: Shinji's classmate Chihiro Tanaka. She is not so bad deep down, but she is popular, bratty, and obsessed with Shinji. She insistently tries to hang out with him, in spite of his reiterated negatives, and she does not hesitate on trying to put Asuka and Rei down only because Shinji is extremely close to them ("trying" is the keyword here — unfortunately for her, bullying Rei is a BAD idea, and bullying Asuka is downright suicidal).

Always Someone Better: Asuka to Shinji. In chapter 2, Shinji is sad because, after undergoing several synch tests, he managed to catch up with Asuka for several seconds, but then she beat his score again. When he says he wanted to beat her and trying to keep up with her is intimidating, Asuka replies that being second only to her is not a bad feat, and she encourages him to keep trying to catch up with her.

Ambiguously Bi: Kaworu. He only ever shows romantic interest in Rei during the story proper, but he mentioned that loved Shinji in at least one alternate timeline. The ambiguity comes down to how much those alternate Kaworu's can be considered to be him.

Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Misato loves embarrassing Shinji and Asuka (although to be fair, most of time they have it coming). After telling them they're allowed to sleep together as long as they have no sex until they're at least fifteen, Misato demands details about their sex life:

She grinned and looked at Asuka. "So... does he 'berserk' in bed?" Asuka's jaw dropped. "What?!" "You've been 'entangling your AT-Fields' for weeks. Having fun? Enjoy 'firing the Positron Cannon'?" "Misato, what the Hell happened to 'we're too young for this'?!" Asuka was turning red. Shinji was turning red faster. Misato just grinned wider. She finished the beer, tossed the can at the recycling bin, and grabbed another. "The cat's out of the bag, we just finished the official business part, and now it's time for your big sis Misato to embarrass the Hell out of you both. I get my payback."

Amnesiac Lover: Rei ends up losing all her memories of Kaworu after her Heroic Sacrifice during the fight against Armisael, due to her last memory backup having been before they met. She has a hard time believing that she could have ever fallen in love with an angel, and probably would have dismissed it as a lie if Asuka and Shinji hadn't corroborated the story.

Analogy Backfire: Rei's suggestion to Kaworu on how to respond to the dozens of girls that are bound to come after him is to be more like Kensuke (i.e. act like a gentleman and don't let it go to your head).

Kaworu: I should... date as many girls as possible, then select two? Rei:No!

Ancient Conspiracy: SEELE is a secret cabal has been planning for a long time to turn everyone into Tang and merge their souls. Asuka meets them after fighting Leliel, and she and Shinji gradually realize that behind the fight against the giant alien invaders, there is something more sinister going on.

And Mission Control Rejoiced: In chapter 7 Zeruel has ignored or blasted into oblivion all defenses surrounding Tokyo-3, has easily maimed Unit 00 and 02, has smashed Unit 01, has invaded the Geofront and nothing NERV throws at it works. Right when it is about to blast everybody Shinji and Asuka come along riding Unit 03. Everyone on The Bridge practically leaps out of their seats cheering.

"YES! WAY TO GO, KIDS!" Misato shouted in joy.The mood on Central Dogma's command deck had suddenly swung from mounting despair to shouts of relief and cheer. Shinji and Asuka, the Pilots who'd won victory after victory, had appeared once again to save the day.

Angrish: In chapter 4 the trope is mentioned by name. Asuka is trying to explain to Rei that she cannot let Shinji see her naked, without telling the main reason (she and Shinji have got together, but they are keeping it a secret). The frustration of being unable to clearly express her primary motive is getting so strong that she "descends into Angrish".

"Pleasant or not, you can't just let baka-Shinji or anyone here see you naked like that." Rei tilted her head to the side by a tiny degree. "I don't mind if Ikari-kun sees me naked." 'Oh no you do not, you little blue-haired bitch! He's MINE!' "You can't do that with Shinji! He's... 'MINE! Just for me! Taken! Claimed! In love with me! GAAAAGHH! I can't say any of that!' "He's... not... you... WHARRGAGBBL!" "I do not understand," Rei said after Asuka descended into Angrish for a minute.

Apologises a Lot: In chapter 3 Shinji and Asuka are pretending to be arguing, but Shinji is so distracted by the sight of Asuka wearing nothing but a towel that he is barely capable of saying "sorry". It prompts Asuka to criticise his habit of apologizing for everything constantly without being really sorry.

In chapter 3 Asuka is trapped inside Leliel and NERV's plan is to throw all of their bombs at it. Dismayed, Shinji asks Misato if Asuka can survive the blast, and Misato evades the question (which was noticed by Shinji).

Misato: "Shinji? [...] Get ready. The bombers are on their way. We're five minutes from the mark." Shinji: "Misato-san... I don't like this plan. How... how can we be sure Asuka can even survive the blast?" Misato: "Her batteries will be all but drained by now, Shinji. We have to try something before it's too late, or there'll be no hope at all." Shinji:(thinking) 'She didn't answer my question.'

In chapter 7, Kaji finds out that Shinji and Asuka are having sex and he tries to discourage them... unsuccessfully. When Asuka says Shinji has said he loves her, Kaji asks why she is so sure that it will last as long as she thinks. Shinji's answer shuts him up:

Asuka: "He loves me, Kaji. Hes said it right to me," she said calmly. "No one else ever has. Not even you."Kaji: "Its just words, Asuka. Words are easy to say. Theyre a lot harder to really mean. How can you possibly know if its true, and will be for as long as youre talking about?"Asuka: "I believe him."Shinji(coldly): "Just words, [...] Just words... have you said them to Misato-san?"

Kaworu does a more heartwarming example in chapter 11 when Rei III denies any feelings for him because it was Rei II who fell in love with him.

Kaworu: Do you love Shinji and Asuka? Rei: (Angrily) Of course I d— Kaworu: Who fell in love with them?

Armor-Piercing Slap: Rei delivers one to Kaworu in chapter 24 after he (playfully) threatens to interfere with Shinji and Asuka's relationship.

Artifact Title: The title references Misato advising Shinji to trust his feelings and ask Asuka out. That was in the first chapter — the story was supposed to be a one-shot. A bunch of chapters have come out since, and Shinji and Asuka got together very early on, so the title does not describe the fic anymore.

In Chapter 11, SEELE sends sniper teams after the Pilots and their friends, in order to eliminate them and trigger Kaworu's Angel side in response. While they succeed in inflicting some serious injuries, everyone survives.

SEELE tries again shortly thereafter, having an agent infiltrate NERV's medical center disguised as a nurse and try to kill Kaworu in his recovery bed, again to try and force Tabris to emerge in response to a threat on his life.

The Atoner: After a conversation with Rei, Ritsuko decides to earn redemption for the terrible things she's done.

Attention Whore: At the beginning Asuka yearned for other people's attention so that she did not feel alone, but thanks to her relationship with Shinji she gradually starts to realize she does not need their approval as long as Shinji is by her side.

Aura Vision: Unsurprisingly, Rei, her being a Half-Human Hybrid. The special thing about her Aura Vision is that it allows her to see everyone's bonds. For example, Asuka and Shinji's loving relationship is like a blazing fire in to her eyes.

Kaworu has something similar, but with one major difference. He doesn't see bonds as clearly as Rei, but he hears them in a way she can't.

In chapter 5 Rei notices that Shinji and Asuka smell of chlorine, ammonia, dust and each other. Quickly she deduces that: they just had sex in a janitor's closet; they are together; they are keeping it a secret; and they have very good reasons for maintaining secrecy. And she guesses all that just from the scents that waft past her as they walk by!

Later Shinji and Asuka realize their mothers are stuck inside their giant robots just by talking about their pasts and their experiences piloting Eva, and comparing notes.

Awkward Kiss: Subverted. In the first chapter, Asuka and Shinji's kiss was very awkward and tentative at the beginning and was heading towards this path when Shinji accidentally placed his hands on her waist to steady himself... and things changed. A lot.

Bad Boss: Commander Gendo Ikari is prone to making bad choices and blaming them on his subordinates. He came up with a bad strategy to defeat Bardiel. Shinji, Asuka and Rei had to go against his orders to triumph, and his reaction was to fire his two best pilots for insubordination. When the enemy attacked and Ritsuko got hurt, he ordered her hauled out of the way because she was "irrelevant". When the two pilots that he had fired returned and helped to defeat Zeruel he got mad.

Bad Dreams: Shinji and Asuka had nightmares constantly about their mothers dying and their fathers abandoning them afterwards.

Asuka(talking about both) You have nightmares all the time about it. The memory keeps coming after you when you try to sleep.

Asuka: Don't. Being the second greatest Eva Pilot in the world isn't exactly making you one of the unwashed masses, Shinji, especially when I'm the top mark. You brought your score up six points in a week, and almost matched me. And who beat Sachiel with no training? Who beat Shamshel despite two Stooges in the Entry Plug with him weighing him down? Who was right there with me against Gaghiel and Israfel? Hm? Shinji: (blushing) Me. Asuka: Damn straight. So straighten up and be proud of it, Shinji. You're more than good enough to fight with me. We're elite Eva Pilots, one in a billion. Don't you ever stop chasing me, either. You and me are the most dangerous people on the planet. There's no one else I'd trust to have next to me in a fight like you.

Shinji also gives one when he's placed under arrest for fighting Arael against his father's orders.

Shinji: You think you've got enough men to take me? My fellow Pilots and I kill gods, Lieutenant. I've saved the world half a dozen times already. Let's get this over with.

Battle Aura: Referenced in chapter 4. Asuka begins losing her temper when another girl insists on flirting with Shinji, and Shinji notices:

Another, darker shadow loomed from behind him. He was faintly surprised there wasn't a glowing red aura around Asuka.

Battle Couple: Shinji and Asuka, natch. And given the nature of Evas, they're not merely more competent as a result, but more powerful as well.

Strypgia: "The best part about being a couple: Combo attacks! :) It's even canon: look how powerful they were together versus Israfel! And from now on, every battle is going to be like that for them."

In chapter 3:

"Damn straight. So straighten up and be proud of it, Shinji. You're more than good enough to fight with me. We're elite Eva Pilots, one in a billion. Don't you ever stop chasing me, either. You and me are the most dangerous people on the planet. There's no one else I'd trust to have next to me in a fight like you." Asuka stopped and blinked to herself. She hadn't intended to be that open. She hadn't even realized how true that statement was until she said it. But it was. The thought of going into a fight now without her baka-Shinji at her side was profoundly unappealing. When they were together, they won. "Until the end of the world, you and me, against the Angels and anything else that tries to hurt us."

The Beard: Word of God says that Sayaka and Kyoko originally hooked up with Kensuke to cover for the fact that they were with each other, but it eventually evolved into a genuine three-way relationship.

Be Careful What You Wish For: Asuka wanted to show everybody that she was the best pilot, and she wished that Shinji got her blatant hints. At last Shinji got her hints, and because she became more psychologically stable (thanks Shinji) she became the Number One, and she and Shinji defeated an enemy together... but because they did not win as Gendo wanted, he fired them, showing that he could render all her accomplishments irrelevant in three seconds flat.

Beautiful Dreamer: In chapter 1, after sleeping in the same bed for first time, Shinji wakes up and spends a while staring at Asuka.

He stood by the bed for a moment, burning the sight into his memory.

Belligerent Sexual Tension: Subverted. Before hooking up Shinji and Asuka often fought and argued despite being clearly drawn to each other. Eventually they got together but they don't want anybody knowing, so that they pretend their relationship is still stuck in that stage.

They look for places to talk withouth being seen by their friends because having a close, perfectly civil conversation would blow their cover.

Beneath the Mask: Shinji had noticed that Asuka pretended to be harsh and prideful, but she was a frightened, vulnerable kid deep-down. After getting together she shows him her kindest, nicest side constantly.

Basically, the three main Pilots function as this for each other: harm any one of them in any way, and the other two will come down on you like the wrath of God.

Rei: You will not touch them! Their bond is the most beautiful thing in this world! They love me and I them, and even I will not risk disrupting it! You will not 'love' them! You will do nothing that might disrupt it! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?

Shinji and Asuka both went berserker fighting Leliel. That poor bastard got ripped from outside and within.

Rei also crossed the line or came dangerously close to it when she was fighting Zeruel, and the Angel threatened her friends.

Beta Couple: Touji and Hikari. Their relationship developed mainly in the chapters 6 and 7.

Beware the Nice Ones: Shinji is pretty quiet and meek. However when Leliel trapped Asuka inside itself, he forced his Eva into a berserker, roaring rage and tore it to shreds.

Beware the Quiet Ones: Rei is a calm, collected person. During the entire battle against Zeruel she acts in a determined but non-aggressive fashion. Then when the Robeast tries to attack Shinji and Asuka, she goes full berserker on its posterior, completed with glowing red eyes and furious snarls and growls.

Ritsuko also starts showing interest in Maya after it becomes painfully clear that Gendo doesn't have any feelings for her. There's also mention of her and Misato experimenting in college (See Let Us Never Speak of This Again below).

We find out at Asuka's birthday party that there's a very good reason why Kensuke's two girlfriends are willing to share him.

Big Bad: SEELE is a secret organization that intends to kill the entire human race and merge their souls into a single being. They are literally the origin of all the trouble in the story, and the cause of all hardships that the main characters have faced and the pain they have endured.

Big Brother Instinct: Asuka and Shinji's feelings for Rei are... complicated, but they are incredibly protective of her. Both of them have said that they care about her almost as much as they care about each other, and one of the fastest ways to piss them off is to hurt her.

Big Brother Mentor: Asuka — and Shinji — become this to Rei after the former realized the latter was being treated like a puppet. Asuka convinced Rei to stop taking a medication regimen tailored to turn her into an emotionless doll, and she and Shinji helped Rei to move in a decent apartment and improve her social skills. Rei started to model her behaviour patterns after Asuka, and Asuka and Shinji became very protective of Rei.

Big Damn Heroes: In chapter 7 Rei is fighting Zeruel, alone. And losing badly. The Angel is about to atomize her when Shinji and Asuka come in riding Unit 03 and knock it to the ground before saying simultaneously: "Get away from my friend."

The Big Damn Kiss: In chapter 1 by Shinji and Asuka. After an awkward beginning they suddenly become so engrossed in kissing each other they fail to notice where they're going. They trip, land on a beanbag and still manage not to break their lip lock. It takes several minutes before they can tear themselves away from each other.

Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Shinji used to think that Asuka was an arrogant, although intelligent and brave girl. Then they had a heart-to-heart talk and he found out about her painful past, her deep traumas, her nightly nightmares, and her feelings of inadequacy, helplessness and loneliness.

Big Good: Rei grows into this position following Ritsuko's HeelFace Turn, being the uniting force between the groups working against Gendo and SEELE.

Rei: Though I believe this bond predates that session. Ikari is the first person Pilot Soryu ever let inside her Entry Plug. Tanaka: Is... is she talking about— Asuka: NO.

Birthday Episode: Chapter 9 has Asuka celebrating her fifteenth birthday. After her birthday party, Shinji and Asuka retire to their bedroom to have celebratory sex.

Bizarre Alien Senses: In chapter 7 Rei fights Zeruel. It is explored how she — an ancient alien goddess stuck inside the body of a human teenager — sees the world differently, how she senses everyone's AT Fields, their nature and their power, and during the battle she feels her Field and Zeruel's clashing.

Blackmail: As part of her campaign to convince Misato to let them sleep together — both literally and figuratively — Asuka informs Misato that Shinji will not cook until she sees reason.

Misato: "But it's Shin-chan's night to cook! [...] That's way better than even my best curry!" Asuka: "The last time you fed 'your best curry' to Pen Pen, he spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling and barking. [...] You've cut off my supply of Shinji-cuddles at night. Until you see reason and let us sleep in one bed again, you can suffer deprivation too."

Blood Knight: Asuka has been training to pilot a Humongous Mecha and fight alien monsters since she was a four-year-old child and found her mother's corpse hanging from a ceiling. Fighting is her whole life and she genuinely likes it. Her self-image is so tied to being a Pilot that when Gendo fires her and Shinji, she very nearly collapses right away.

Blood Lust: Asuka is real enthusiastic about shedding the enemys blood when she fights. She was practically giddy when she slashed and stabbed Bardiel.

Body Snatcher: Bardiel took over Unit-03's body. A fortunate side-effect of this was Unit-03 growing a S2 organ, which helped Shinji and Asuka to survive the next battle.

Bonding Over Missing Parents: In Chapter 1. Shinji mentions that his father abandoned him right after his mother's death... and Asuka mutters that the same thing happened to her.

Break the Cutie: When Shinji and Asuka open up to each other, Shinji tells how he got abandoned by his father after his mother's death, with no explanation or apology, grew up with no friends, has nightmares about it the whole time... and finds out that Asuka understands him too much well. They get together and his life is apparently and finally getting better... and then an Angel hijacks an Eva with one of his friends inside, Hikari gets absorbed into her robot, he and Asuka get fired...

Break the Haughty: Although the premise of the story is "Shinji and Asuka's ruined First Kiss was Asuka's turning point which led to her breakdown. What if they would have gotten it right?" Asuka still is put through a breaking. She gets swallowed by an Angel, her best friend gets absorbed by her giant robot and she gets fired by Gendo. The last was a potentially devastating blow since her self-worth is completely tied to being a pilot. She was hanging by a thread afterwards, and Shinji was the only thing that helped her to cope with the situation in lieu of falling apart and crumbling down.

In an early chapter Asuka tells Rei: "If and when you ever show them off to someone who is not the Third Child, wear something better than those panties, because that is the most boring underwear I have ever seen". Several chapters later she shows her new panties to Kensuke to determine if her new underwear is or is not boring. When Asuka asks Rei why Kensuke was passed out in the hall and what she did, Rei replies "What you told me."

In an early chapter Rei tells Asuka "I am not fucking with you. That is Ikari-kun's job." In chapter 8 Asuka mutters "Fuck... Shinji" and Rei, despite being heavily drugged, makes the same joke.

After Misato and Kaji having sex keeps them up at night, Asuka mentioned that she and Shinji would have to get Misato back once her birthday hit (Misato had forbid them from having sex until then). Right before they go to bed on the night of her birthday, she says "Now lets cost Misato some sleep."

Bring My Red Jacket: Red-suited Asuka's fights are bloody, and she usually gets hurt or worse. When Leliel swallowed her giant robot whole, she ripped it apart from within, and her mecha came out covered in Angel blood. When the pilots fought Bardiel she got the worst injuries and she felt the pain of getting her arm ripped off when her robot lost its limb.

Broken Ace: Asuka — the best pilot in the team as well as a certified genius and a gorgeous, hot-blooded, brave girl — was already pretty broken before the beginning of the history, and she was heading towards a full breaking. Part of the premise of this story is altering the event where her downward spiral began (her and Shinji's ruined First Kiss) and seeing if she can avoid becoming a fully broken ace. So far her self-esteem has suffered a few severe blows but she has managed to hold herself together.

Broken Bird: In chapter 1 Shinji and Asuka open up and talk about their pasts (their mothers' demises, their fathers' abandonment, their lack of friends, their feelings of insolation and loneliness, their self-worth and trust issues...) and realize that they were more alike than they thought:

Asuka: What Sensei? Shinji: The one my father abandoned me with after my mother died in an accident with the Eva! Not that you'd understand that. Asuka: Me too. [...] My mother... There was an accident with Unit-02... She... died, eventually. My father... didn't mourn very long. [...] So yes, Third Child, I know exactly what that felt like! Shinji: [...] Your father abandoned you after your mother was gone. Asuka: You have nightmares all the time about it. The memory keeps coming after you when you try to sleep. Shinji: [nods] It's hard to sleep. You feel lonely and cold at night, because no one ever held you after that. Asuka: You never had many friends before you came here. No on ever wanted to just talk to you for you. Shinji: Your father never explained or apologized for why he just left you. Asuka: No one even tried to understand your pain. No one cared. Shinji: You miss her every day, but don't even have any pictures, barely any memories. No one tells you about her. Asuka: And there was never any point in talking about it to anyone, because there was no one in the world who could understand what being an Evangelion Pilot was like. Shinji/Asuka: (in unison) You're just like me.

Broken Hero: When Shinji and Asuka got together and befriended Rei, the Children became a bit happier due to their stronger emotional bonds. They're still traumatized teenagers, but they smile more often and they're actually hopeful about their future. And they've become better warriors, too.

Broken Pedestal: Maya idolizes Ritsuko to the point of having a crush on her. However Ritsuko sees herself as an idiot who makes awful decisions in order to try to seduce an asshole who does not care about her, and she is afraid that she will become this to Maya if her assistant realizes how horrible she really is. In chapter 8 Ritsuko explicitly thinks that she is not who Maya believes she is.

Broken Record: In chapter 9, Hikari explains what listening to Shinji and Asuka's thoughts when she was mind-linked with them was like: it felt like the words Love Lust Joy Happiness Trust Comfort Love Lust Joy Happiness Trust Comfort repeating over and over.

Buffy Speak: Touji is guilty of this. In chapter 8 he tries to talk about his friend and Asuka behaving as a couple:

Bullying a Dragon: In chapter 6 Gendo berates Rei for not obeying him and threatens her with "consequences" should she fail in following and executing his orders and only his orders to the letter. Keeping in mind that he knows she is a Physical God capable of liquefying him with a mere thought and protected with an impenetrable barrier, he should think twice before threatening her, especially since she has begun ignoring his orders.

It's not just with Rei either. Gendo has made it a hobby to torment, abuse, ignore, insult, and mistreat his best Child Soldiers who are the only viable pilots for the 50 foot mecha absolutely mission critical for his "scenario." As if that wasn't bad enough, he also callously mistreats his staff, who are the only means by which he can keep a leash on said pilots. He has yet to realize how wrong he is in thinking that he has them all completely under his thumb and can get away with it.

Call to Agriculture: Kaji gardens and grows watermelons because he wants to make something he likes before dying since he thinks the world is ending. In chapter 8 he and Misato drag the pilots down to his watermelon patch and the kids spend some time gardening and weeding.

Calling the Old Man Out: Asuka chews out Yui during a cross-synch test for abandoning Shinji and being compliant with SEELE in chapter 10, though the two of them do manage to reach something of an understanding by the end of their discussion.

Cannot Spit It Out: Subverted. In the prologue Misato thinks Shinji is incapable of confessing his feelings to Asuka and she tries to encourage him to admit them to her. Shinji answers with the usual excuses: he does not think that Asuka loves him back, he likes things the way they are right now... but in reality, they had gotten together several weeks earlier and were keeping their relationship secret. Before that, though, they had been unable to spit it out: Shinji did not believe that Asuka liked him, Asuka was too proud to admit that she had fallen for him, and both were frightened of rejection.

Played straight with Lilith. She was in love with Adam before they became the carriers for the souls of the FAR and never admitted her feelings. Her desire to be with him was the reason why both of them ended up on the same planet.

Canon Immigrant: Chihiro Tanaka, a character originally created in Once More with Feeling is Shinji, Asuka and Rei's classmate and makes several appearances where she tries woo Shinji and pry him away from Asuka and Rei... with no success whatsoever.

Can't Live With Them, Can't Live Without Them: Gendo thinks his son and Asuka's relationship consists of Shinji being infatuated with her and dependent on her despite her abusing him and detesting him. He is very wrong. They used to fight and need each other simultaneously, but they got over the "can't live with them" part when he was not paying attention.

Captain Obvious: Rei is naturally blunt, but in chapter 8 she makes very obvious statements because she's recovering from a drug overdose and it's messing with her mind:

Rei: (staring at a watermelon) "This melon... is very green. Green."

The Casanova: Subverted. Due to a misunderstanding, all Shinji's female classmates convinced themselves that he is some sort of stud and is in a three-way relationship with Asuka and Rei (ironically they are accidentally not so off the mark: Shinji and Asuka are dating secretly, and Rei is in love with both, but she does not want to disrupt their relationship), so they start to lust after him and chase him, much to his chagrin (he only wants Asuka) and Asuka's wrath, who complains that they think he is "Shinji the Casanova" when he is hers.

Cat Smile: Asuka displayed a very playful, smug and self-satisfied grin after being kissed by Shinji in front of all their classmates in chapter 8.

Cerebus Rollercoaster: This story's mood and tone shift constantly due to the author's desire to blend W.A.F.F. with the darkness of canon, and the length of the chapters. In a single episode you can go from wacky teenager antics to mecha action to a character considering committing suicide to two children in love snuggling up on their bed.

Character Development: Asuka's plan in chapter 8 was meant to mess with Misato's mind andshow subtly that they had matured since they were together: Asuka can now control her temper, both teens care about each other and are comfortable with their bodies and with sexuality to the point they can have fun with some fantasy — or make fun of each other's personality traits — without ruining their real relationship...

Chastity Couple: Invoked. Ritsuko deliberately wanted to take things slowly with Maya since she had just come out of an emotionally abusive relationship with Gendo.

They hadnt slept together, kissed, or even so much as held hands, but she already felt a dozen times closer and happier being with Maya than she had in years pursuing Gendo. She felt positively giddy at times. Maya wanted her just for being her. Maya wanted to hold her, say her name softly, and wake up next to her. Without either of them saying three little words, without a kiss or anything, they were... a couple.

Although, after that, and as Ritsuko slowly becomes more and more comfortable with their relationship, they start kissing and eventually perform the deed at Ritsuko's apartment.

Chef of Iron: Shinji is a giant robot pilot and he also cooks for his teammates. As soon as the first chapter it is pointed out that he makes delicious meals. A few chapters later he was shattering a Robeast to pieces.

Chekhov's Gun: When Asuka fights the Thirteenth Angel she sees that Bardiel has grown an S2 Organ in Unit 03's body when it infected the Humongous Mecha. She and Shinji defeat Bardiel by cracking the Organ, avoiding destroying the Unit. Later they have to help Rei to fight Zeruel but they can not use their own giant robots, so that they hijack the intact Unit 03. During the battle it runs out of power... but since it has a S2 Organ, it can keep moving.

Asuka: Kensuke Aida has two girlfriends. And its their idea. And hes cancelling on a bunch more girls for them. I want off this planet, Shinji. Its clearly gone nuts.

Child Soldiers: Shinji, Asuka and Rei, fourteen-year-old kids drafted to pilot war mechs and fight a war against giant alien monsters. Asuka and Rei have been training her whole lives for it, and the former is especially devoted to it. Often they talk about how broken they are due to being someone else's tools. When Misato expresses horror at the idea of Asuka and Shinji in a sexual relationship, they essentially retort that if they're old enough to go to war and die for her, they're old enough for that as well.

Clingy Jealous Girl: Shinji and Asuka got together but they are keeping it a secret. She is extremely possessive and protective of Shinji because "You're cute, you like me, you're a fantastic kisser, and you understand what it's like [to be me]". Coincidentally, all their female classmates have all of sudden convinced themselves that he is a Casanova and a god of sex and are trying to hook up with him, and their behaviour is an endless source of frustration and rage to Asuka because she can not claim him publicly or just kill her rivals (someone might notice).

Ironically Rei does not provoke Asuka's jealousy — after a while — however, she is also extremely close to Shinji because Rei respects their bond and she has even helped to drive Shinji's would-be suitors away.

Clueless Chick Magnet: Asuka liked Shinji, Rei cared for Shinji, and all of his female classmates had a huge crush on Shinji... and Shinji was completely clueless about it. He never even noticed. It changes throughout the story, though. He accidentally got a hint Asuka was throwing at him and they got together... which eventually led to Rei spending more time with them and all of their classmates deciding to chase him actively, much to his shock and disbelief.

Companion Cube: Asuka treats her Unit 02 as if it was alive and talks to it. After discovering that their robots ARE alive and their mothers' souls are locked within them, Asuka realizes that is the reason her synch rose and her robot went berserker when she talked to it. From that point onward Shinji and Asuka start to talk to their robots more often.

Conveniently an Orphan: Shinji and Asuka are both orphans (dead mothers, abandoned by fathers). So is Rei. And Hikari who also becomes a pilot. And all of their classmates. Eventually Shinji and Asuka start to suspect it is indeed very convenient that all pilots are half-orphans whose surviving parental figure works for NERV. When they compare notes on their mothers' deaths and after Hikari tells them she felt her mother inside her robot they realize what has happened to their mothers and that NERV is behind their deaths.

Converse with the Unconscious: In chapter 2 Shinji talks to Asuka while she is unconscious to tell her she makes him happy and he will never leave her.

Cool Big Sis: Misato tries acting like this to her wards, taking care of them, trying to protect them and even encouraging Shinji to confess his feelings to Asuka.

Cooldown Hug: As their relationship develops and strengthens, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei start to do this for each other when one of them is upset.

In chapter 7 Rei — who was upset after being forced to not see Shinji and Asuka for two days — hugged Shinji and then Asuka, giving her an additional hug on Shinji's behalf. The three of them felt comforted and calmer for it.

"And she could be wrong. What if Hikari's dead and its my fault for screwing up? I get my best friend killed, I get fired from the job I've had my whole life, I get replaced by a program, I'm fucking useless " Asuka pinched her eyes shut and fought down tears. She nearly gasped as she felt Rei put her arms around her. "I am happy to see you, Asuka. I missed my friends. You are not useless. You have saved me from drugged stupor. You fought superbly and defeated the Angel even though you had only one arm left. You saved many lives by stopping it so quickly." "But we failed Hikari! I failed my best friend! And now Im not even a Pilot anymore! What good am I?" Asuka nearly wailed. Rei released the hug and stepped back. Asuka suddenly missed it. The embrace had been comforting somehow.

Cordon Bleugh Chef: As her canon self, Misato likes mixing foods that should not be mixed. In chapter 8 Asuka tells the last time Misato fed her "best curry" to Pen Pen, the penguin spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling and barking.

Covert Pervert: After hooking up with Shinji and especially after Their First Time, Asuka becomes sex-crazed and gets frustrated if she hasn't sex with Shinji in the past day... but in public, she still pretends she is not interested in sex so that nobody suspects they are together. When someone figures out they are together and finds out what kind of thoughts she has, they are shocked because they did not think she could be so lewd.

Asuka:(thinking) I... may owe Misato an apology. I had no idea it felt this good. I might be a bigger perv than she is.

Crazy Enough to Work: In chapter 7 Rei was fighting Zeruel alone because Shinji and Asuka got fired. Despite her most valiant efforts Zeruel was trouncing her. Shinji and Asuka could not seem to help her because they were out of the Geofront, and even if they made it they could not use their giant robots (Rei was piloting Unit 01 and Zeruel had butchered Unit 00 and 02). Then Shinji got an idea: driving to the base as fast as possible and hijacking Unit 03, an Evangelion that neither had ever so much as TOUCHED before that day and could be contaminated by an Angel, hoping that maybe Hikari — who was stuck inside — would help them to move it around given her connection to both.

Crazy Jealous Guy: Although he has not got many chances to show it In-Universe, Word of God has confirmed that Shinji is very possessive and jealous, and if someone tried to hit on Asuka, he would not put up with it silently.

That.... would not likely end well. Shinji doesn't show it as much, but he's as strongly possessive of Asuka as she is of him. Rei gets a pass due to being so close to both of them, but a stranger, an outsider, trying to make moves on his Asuka? Oh, that would not be good.

Creative Sterility: Kaworu is very good when it comes to playing music, but he can't write his own or even rearrange an existing song; he isn't capable of the inspiration to create.

Creepy Monotone: Rei's monotone voice is the result of being drugged to the gills on tranquilizers and mood suppressors. When she starts talking like this again after a long stretch of being more emotionally demonstrative than usual, Shinji and Asuka immediately realize that something is very wrong.

Crush Blush: Shinji and Asuka often blush when talking to each other. In chapters 3 and 4 Shinji blushes brightly and frequently when Misato teases him about what he felt for Asuka and encourages him to confess.

Rei loves hugs, although she's far more likely to ask for them then to give them. While Asuka and Shinji are always happy to oblige, Asuka was a bit annoyed when she came into their room to ask for one at six-thirty in the morning.

Asuka loves to cuddle with Shinji, it's one of her favorite activities. Even after Leliel, they spend just as many nights snuggling as they do having sex.

Curb-Stomp Battle: After Shinji and Asuka's full graduation to Battle Couple some of their battles have been quite... one-sided. When they fought Leliel, the battle was over as soon as they went berserker. Shinji shattered its shadow into pieces, and Asuka ripped its body open from within.

Curse Cut Short: Combined with Foreign Cuss Word at the end of chapter 6. Asuka has just won a battle and she is surrounded by a squad of armed guards who inform her that Commander Ikari has ordered her arrest and confinement. In reaction she exclaimed EURE MÜTTER-" (meaning "You mother-") before cutting to another scene.

Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: In chapter 4 Asuka is trying to prevent a classmate from finding out that Shinji and she got together, so that she denies that he has had sex with her. When their classmate tries to placate her by saying "Of course! He'd never do anything indecent with you!" Asuka gets pissed off and retorts that he would do anything he could with her all night long and she'd make him beg for more...

(long, awkward pause)Asuka: That didn't just happen and none of you remember anything. Or I will scoop out your brains and make a pie, understood?

D-F

Dead Guy Junior: After Shinji admits how easily he could turn out like his father in the event that Asuka winds up killed or comatose, Asuka made him promise that — in the event that she couldn't be with him — he should marry Rei instead and name a daughter after her. He made her give the same promise (although he pointed out that adoption would probably be required under those circumstances).

In chapter 4 Asuka gives Shinji "a glare that should have set his shirt on fire" after learning that he touched Rei's chest accidentally.

In chapter 6 Asuka rescues Shinji from their female classmates. Afterwards Asuka and her classmates exchanged death glares:

Asuka hung behind to give Tanaka and the other girls a death glare, which they returned.

In chapter 7 when Gendo fires the Pilots, Asuka — whose self-worth depended hugely on being a Pilot — almost collapses on the spot. Shinji, who is used to being insulted by his father but could not stand to see Asuka hurt, aims a glare at Gendo that could melt titanium; Gendo doesn't blink, but Fuyutsuki does.

Death Seeker: Rei lives in permanent pain due to her soul being split in three pieces. She also knows that she is a clone and could be replaced if she died. She collaborated with Gendo because she hoped she could die and finally rest in peace if he carried out his plan. However, as her bond with Shinji and Asuka grows stronger and sturdier, she starts enjoying living and hanging out with other people, and stops wishing for the release of oblivion.

Defrosting Ice Queen: All Shinji's female classmates are convinced that he has "tamed" the "Red Devil" (hot-blooded, fiery redhead Asuka) and the "Ice Queen" (collected, emotionless Rei) and they are sharing him because one single woman can not handle him. Ironically they are not so far from the truth. Shinji has "defrosted" Asuka and both have "defrosted" Rei (although nobody is having a threesome... sorry, "Israfel Special"). After kissing — and Shinji realizing Asuka had been dropping hints on him — they got together and Asuka started being warmer, kinder and more affectionate to him. Then they started to spend more time with Rei, and the three of them bonded.

The story starts out when Misato takes Shinji aside to give him tips to "defrosting" Asuka... not knowing he already managed that.

When Shinji and Asuka realize that Gendo has raised Rei as his obedient puppet, they decide to befriend her and cut her strings because they really hate Gendo and they really care about Rei.

Shinji and Asuka to each other. After realizing they are traumatized orphans and child soldiers during their mutual love confession, they start to lean on each other, improving their mental stability.

Department of Redundancy Department: In chapter 9, Ritsuko is very nervous after having a romantic dream about her co-worker, and as she tries to calm down, she tells herself that she's a "rational woman of science and rationality".

Determinator: Rei. Asuka compares her with a Terminator because she never stops. Her finest showing in the battle against Zeruel is actually an example of her Character Development, where she fights her hardest to defend her friends rather than lack of regard for her own life, never gives up and thanks to her resolute attitude she manages to kill it in spite of horrible odds.

Did You Just Have Sex?: In chapter 8 Rei manages to piece together that Shinji and Asuka were just having sex in a supply closet based on how they smelled, their lack of tension, and the fact that they arrived back at the classroom at the same time even though they left separately. By extension, she's able to figure out that they've been in a Secret Relationship for the past few months (something that nobody else noticed) even though she had less than a month of experience with recognizing social cues.

Rei: Observation: Ikari-kun and Pilot Soryu have returned to the classroom smelling alike and of each other, their tension is gone. Conclusion: they have just engaged in some activity together in a confined space that satisfied both of them. Second Conclusion: They utilized the school cleaning supply closet to engage in... sexual intercourse?

Did You Think I Can't Feel?: After Shinji and Asuka talk her into ditching her emotion-numbing medication, Rei often wonders angrily why the Commander did this to her. When he is lecturing her after the battle against Bardiel, reminding her that she must obey any and all his orders and only his orders to the letter or there will be "consequences" she keeps a cool mask while burning with resentment, thinking she had always been loyal and he had used her like a puppet, and telling herself she will not allow him to hurt her friends.

Rei eventually tells Ritsuko that, despite having good reason, she does not hate Ritsuko or Gendo. Ritsuko is alarmed, as the drug regimen she has prescribed for Rei shouldn't even permit her enough emotional depth to consider hating anyone; the explanation Rei offers is that she can always feel, although normally she does not care.

Disappeared Dad: In chapter 1 Shinji tells Asuka his father ditched him after his mother's death and he barely saw Gendo during the next ten years. Asuka mentions that her own father did not mourn her mother very long; Shinji guesses that her father also abandoned her after her mother was gone and he never explained or apologized for it.

Distinction Without a Difference: Asuka sarcastically tells Misato over the phone that she'll do her best to fight Shinji's Don Juan-like charms and keep him from ravishing her. When Shinji questions her on it, she claims that she considers him more of a Casanova type and that she'd be ravishing him.

Distracted by the Sexy: In chapter 3 Asuka and Shinji are pretending to have a fight. However Asuka is wearing nothing but a towel and Shinji is so busy ogling her bare legs that he is barely paying attention to what she is saying.

Does This Remind You of Anything?: Rei begging Ritsuko to drug her again so that she can hide her soul pains from Gendo is reminiscent of a junkie going through withdrawal. The author confirms that this was deliberate.

Don't Make Me Destroy You: When Rei brings Kaworu home, she instructs him NOT to touch anything because she's yearning for an excuse to obliterate him.

Rei: This is my residence. Do not touch anything. My instincts are already demanding your destruction for the invasion, even requested. Kaworu:(smiling) I will try not to force you to destroy me.

In chapter 4 Rei shares details of past battles with a classmate... but it sounds like she is implying that Shinji was having sex with both Asuka and her.

Later in that chapter Asuka is complaining about Rei's double entendres... and finds out that Rei has no idea what that is, so that she has to explain the concept:

Asuka:"And damn near everything out of your mouth was a huge double entendre!"Rei:"What is a 'double-entendre'?"Asuka:"You... what? You really... Are you screwing with me, First?"Rei:"I am not screwing with you, Pilot Soryu."Asuka:"A double entendre is when you say something superficially ordinary with deliberate sexual double meaning. When you started telling Tanaka about 'Ikari-kun was the first one in Soryu's Entry Plug', she's going to think you're making a joke about us having sex! And 'he burst into my core' and 'I would like to do it again' makes it sound like baka-Shinji's doing you too!"

In chapter 8, Ritsuko is so depressed over having committed uncountable sins for the love of a man who doesn't care about her that she starts drinking wine by the bottle while strung out on painkillers. And then she attempts to take more painkillers on top of that.

'Youre halfway into your fourth bottle of wine and trying to take more pills. Youre a goddam doctor, Ritsuko. Are we still going to pretend you dont remember what happens when you mix sedatives and alcohol at this dosage? Are we still pretending this isnt a half-assed suicide attempt?'

Kaworu also becomes suicidal after being Mind Raped by Arael, as shown by his comments while watching reruns of M*A*S*H.

The humor appeals to me, and I like the opening song. It feels more fitting to me right now than 'Ode To Joy'.

Drives Like Crazy: In chapter 7 Asuka realizes why Misato drives like crazy. It is because Kaji taught her. He shattered the limit speed, threw the car into precisely calculated and highly risky drifts and drove on the train tracks.

Drowning My Sorrows: After her talk with Rei in chapter 8, Ritsuko spends the whole night drinking wine and crying.

Dynamic Entry: Performed by Shinji and Asuka in chapter 7. Zeruel has destroyed the Evas, has crushed Rei and has reached Nerv's command centre. It is about to blast Rei when Unit 03, piloted by Shinji and Asuka, slam into it from behind, knocking it to the ground.

Early-Bird Cameo: Kaworu was supposed to come along after the defeat of the Sixteenth Angel. Here he arrives at NERV shortly after the defeat of the Fourteenth.

Earn Your Happy Ending: Although Shinji and Asuka hook up at the beginning of the story, and their relationship gives them an emotional anchor to cling to when things got too tough, the story makes clear that a happy ending will require struggle. And it was made clear as soon as Leliel absorbed Asuka in lieu of Shinji in the next chapter. Moreover, now they have a deep bond with Rei and have a better relationship with their friends, they have to protect more people.

Since they got together, Shinji ogles Asuka even more often and longer than usual.

At the chapter 3 she is berating him while wearing a towel... and only a towel. Shinji has trouble listening to anything she is saying.

"I'm sorry," his mouth said on autopilot. A small part of his brain was concentrating on not dropping the hot pot on his feet, because most of it was trying not to drool helplessly over the way Asuka's long, smooth legs disappeared up under the hem of the towel, mixed in with memories of last night that said sight triggered. Stopping in the middle of things to take a shower had been Asuka's idea. It had been a good one; she'd suggested there was a way to save water... Wow...Um. She was still pointing at him and yelling. "You always apologize right away, but do you actually feel sorry?!""Um." Nope, brain still off.

In chapter 9, Ritsuko is conducting an experiment in a pool of LCL and needs Maya's help. Ritsuko's labcoat-plus-swimsuit outfit is famous from the first episode of the series, but Maya's never seen it before now; she winds up gawking at Ritsuko. The narration has to repeat the words "she forced her eyes up" multiple times before she can actually get her eyes off Ritsuko's cleavage.

Elegant Classical Musician: As in canon, Shinji is a skilled cello player, and he is later joined by Asuka (Violin), Rei (Viola), and Kaworu (Violin). Shinji even writes a concerto for Asuka's birthday and performs it alongside Rei and Kaworu. And yes, he does get other uses out of his "musician's hands".

Emotionless Girl: Deconstructed. When Shinji and Asuka visit Rei's apartment, Asuka discovers that Rei is emotionless because she has been taking industrial-sized doses of emotion-suppressing chemicals prescribed by Ritsuko. Aghast, she tries to convince Rei to stop taking them and worries that NERV would also do this to Shinji and herself.

Enemy Mine: Shinji's female classmates have a crush on him and team up to keep Asuka away him as each one of them try to ask him out. However Rei does not care for them trying to flirt with Shinji so that Rei teams up with Asuka to keep them away Shinji (and in the process they become good friends).

Subverted. Shinji and Asuka used to be unable to see it, but in the beginning of the fic they at last realized each other's feelings. However they are keeping their relationship secret out of fear to be separated, so that they pretend they are still stuck in that phase, and everyone believe they can not see it despite of it being obvious.

Misato particularly thinks it is painfully obvious but they are oblivious and she must help them to realize it.

Played straight with Touji/Hikari. Asuka lampshades the absurdity of it and Shinji points out what they were doing the same thing.

Asuka told him about Hikaris raging crush on Touji. Shed been only slightly surprised when Shinji mentioned Toujis matching infatuation with the petite Class Rep that he thought no one knew about. Asuka had laughed at the foolishness of the two of them liking each other but failing to see it was mutual, just dancing around each other for months until Shinji had given her a smirk and a stare.

Everything's Better with Penguins: In chapter 8 Shinji plays a Strip Chess match against Pen Pen as part of Asuka's plan to get Misato to accept that he and Asuka are together (long story). Although Shinji was meant to lose, the penguin turns out to be pretty good at Chess, beating Shinji without losing its only item of clothing (he has also beaten Misato before, apparently). Later Asuka plays against Pen Pen to win Shinji and his clothes back. Yes, it is as funny as it sounds.

Shinji: Well, it's about what I would have said anyway, before, and it's still true, so I'm not lying or anything... Asuka: Heh. Technically correct, the best kind of correct.

Ritsuko, needing to recover from a series of injuries, is planning on using the same LCL-boosted healing regimen she's run on the Pilots before; since she's the only one who knows how the process works, Commander Ikari has classified it and ordered Ritsuko not to use it on herself. Her solution? Get Maya to use it on her. Both Ritsuko and Maya, though, know that this is still a violation of the order.

Expendable Clone: Subverted. At the beginning Rei saw herself as expendable and replaceable since she was a clone. When she told Asuka she would die if she was ordered to, her fellow pilot was horrified. However Rei befriends Shinji and Asuka and as her bond with them gets stronger, she stops thinking of herself as dispensable.

Eye Beams: Zeruel's optical beams are extremely powerful. He used them to pierce nearly all defensive layers of the cast's underground base and nearly vaporizes Rei with them.

Face Palm: In chapter 4 Shinji does a double facepalm after Asuka all but blows their cover (they were trying to keep their relationship secret and she pretty much shouted at a classmate that they were having sex).

Family of Choice: When Shinji feels that he has "tainted blood" due to the revelation that he comes from a family of apocalypse cultists, Asuka and Misato are quick to remind him who his real family is.

Misato: Your family is right here, Shinji.

Shinji had brought it up earlier with Asuka during their first real date after they were fired, but Asuka said that using the term "family" probably wouldn't be appropriate for the two of them when you consider what they get up to every night.

Fan-Art: Many fans have done pictures◊ and even banners. Their art may be found in the Sufficient Velocity thread.

Fate Worse than Death: After finding out Rei was emotionless because she was being ordered to take drugs in order to render her obedient, compliant and emotionless, Asuka declares she would rather die than be turned into a puppet:

Asuka: Don't... don't let that happen to me, Shinji. Don't let them do that to me. Or you. I'd rather die.

Fiery Redhead: Asuka. Although her behaviour towards Shinji becomes softer after getting together, she is still pretty belligerent and explosive to other people, especially if they are trying to steal her boyfriend or interfering with their relationship.

Finger-Tenting: Gendo uses this pose in chapter 8 as he is pondering over the last developments (Shinji accidentally extracting someone who had been absorbed into an Evangelion) and their implications.

Gendo just tightened his lips and jerked a sharp nod. He returned to his desk and pulled up a report on the repair estimates for Unit-01, his hands assuming their standard position folded under his nose as he stared at the screen, but Fuyutsuki could tell he was not seeing the words at all.

Shinji and Asuka's first kiss happened in chapter 2. Unlike what happened in canon, where their kiss went awry due to a lack of communication and understanding between both, Shinji accidentally put his hands on Asuka's hips which led to their kissing intensifying, and a Relationship Upgrade after a much needed heart-to-heart talk.

Rei's first kiss was with Kensuke, back before she realized the implications of kissing people.

Kaworu's first kiss was with Rei during the Christmas party under the mistletoe (Rei stated it was meant to be platonic).

First Time Feeling: After having discovered that Rei's medication regimen is full of dissociative, emotionally suppressing, and worse drugs, Asuka adamantly tells Rei to drop it entirely, despite the ensuing withdrawal symptoms. Not only can Asuka relate (having been on such drugs in the past), but she's particularly triggered by the knowledge that NERV is willing to turn its own Pilots into 'emotionless dolls'. Rei undergoes a rather intense period of time where she tries to deal with intense withdrawal (while trying to hide it) and feeling significant emotion for the first time.

Fix Fic: This story fixes Shinji and Asuka's relationship with a generous injection of waffiness.

In chapter 4 Asuka uttered one after finding out that Shinji had accidentally touched Rei's breasts once.

Asuka narrowed her eyes. "Yes, that was a sudden, convenient little 'accident' you had out there. What was Wondergirl about to say? You touched her somewhere?" "Umm..." "He touched my right breast," Rei calmly supplied. Asuka stared at her, mouth gaping. "What." She shook her head. "Explain, rapidly."

In chapter 8 Asuka starts explaining Shinji her plan to simultaneously tell Misato that they are together and have her accepting that they are also sleeping together.

And then, when we get into the latter phase of the plan involving Shinji and Asuka acting as each other, Misato lays out three of these in a row.

Forceful Kiss: At the end of chapter 8, when Touji spotted Hikari, he inmediately grabbed her and planted a kiss on her lips.

Hikari had just enough time to spread her arms and gain a dazzling smile before Touji almost crashed into her embrace and began desperately kissing her. "ToujMMPH!"

Foreign Cuss Word: Asuka tends to spout German swearwords when she gets excited or angry. In chapter 6, she was unfailry detained and put in solitary confinement. Asuka expressed her displeasure about that punishment very, very loudly:

Foreshadowing: Early on in chapter 5, Asuka playfully teases Rei by claiming that she would have a better chance defeating an angel by making out with one than fighting it in her Eva. Five chapters later, she hooks up with Kaworu.

Forgiveness: Rei was willing to forgive Ritsuko for constantly drugging her and nearly killing her with an overdose, despite the fact that everyone (including Ritsuko herself) didn't think she deserved it.

For Want of a Nail: The premise of the story matches up exactly with canon until during the kiss Asuka gives Shinji — he grabs her waist to stay upright (because he can't breathe and Asuka is holding his nose shut), which she interprets as the vital reassurance she was hoping for that he liked her, as well. Things tumble along from there... to say the least.

Freudian Excuse: Chapter 8 examines how Gendo does everything he does because he is a broken man, utterly afraid of other people and completely obsessed with getting his deceased wife back.

Asuka waved her concern away. "It's fine, he's gone and forgotten. Tomorrow I won't even remember his name. So much for him being a 'dashing older student' like you said. He was just a selfish jerk out for a cheap feel, not anything like a real good man, like Kaji-san or S—" Asuka suddenly coughed violently and covered her mouth. 'Crap! You idiot! That was close!' "Or who?" Hikari asked. "Ssssssschelbert-san. Guy I knew in Berlin. Nice guy, very... er... tall. You don't know him,"

Frickin' Laser Beams: In episode 7 Rei fights Zeruel. The Robeast started out the battle shooting a laser beam at Rei, but she dodged it quickly. During the battle she constantly dodged its energy blasts, since when she tried to block them, it almost vaporized her.

The Angels eyes flashed again and Rei threw herself to the side. The beam missed her by bare meters and vaporized another building behind her with a cross-shaped blast.

G-I

Gaslighting: Asuka comes up with a Zany Scheme involving Strip Chess and role-reversal to bewilder Misato so thoroughly that she doesn't have the mental fortitude to make a big deal of the fact her two wards are sleeping together. It ultimately fails — insofar as Misato still loses her temper when she finds out.

General Failure: Commander Gendo Ikari. He devised a real dumb strategy to fight Bardiel, and when his pilots had to change the plan and adapt to survive and win he got in their way nonstop, distracting them, berating them and ensuing stupid commands. Then, when Shinji, Asuka and Rei managed destroy the enemy and rescue the pilot with no casualties he got so angry at them for not winning how he wanted that he had Shinji and Asuka — his best pilots — detained and ultimately fired and lectured Rei for "insubordination".

Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: During Rei's activation test, Maya slaps Ritsuko to force her to react and run away when Unit-00 goes berserker.

Giant Equals Invincible: Regular army forces do nothing against Evas or Angels. During the battle against Leliel land tropes surround the Angel to let Nerv apply pressure. One of the Bridge Bunnies asks if they are useful and Misato notes disdainfully that Leliel is intimidated by their presence not at all.

In the start of chapter 3 Asuka points her finger at Shinji when she accuses him of getting the water too hot.

"HOTTTTTTTTTT!" The aggrieved shout from the bathroom startled the two inhabitants of the dining area. A rapid stomping of feet heralded the door to the bathroom being flung open by an upset redhead clad only in a pair of towels wrapped tightly around her hair and torso. She leveled an accusing finger at Shinji. "That bath was too HOT!"

And in chapter 4 Asuka points her forefinger at Rei as she argues about Rei's unintended double entendres.

She stepped closer to Rei and swung her finger up to point right in Rei's face.

Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Sparks Shinji and Asuka's Relationship Upgrade after the battle against Leliel. Asuka nearly died inside the Angel, lonely and afraid, and she decides that she doesn't want to lose the opportunity before she risks her life again.

Asuka: "I don't care about protection, not right now. I could have died in there, more alone than anyone has ever been. You're already closer to me than anyone else has ever been. I want every bond between us we can have. You gave me strength in there. I want you, Shinji. All of you. Tonight." She brought her hand up to stroke his face. "We're alive, together, and... in love. I love you, Shinji. I want to be yours."

A Glass in the Hand: Misato crushes an empty beer can after she finds out SEELE caused her father's death.

Go Mad from the Isolation: After the fight with Bardiel, Gendo had Shinji and Asuka detained for insubordination. Asuka was thrown alone in a cell and left in full darkness. She was starting to panic as the forced isolation set in... then she heard Shinji knocking a familiar beat against the wall in the cell next to hers. The sound immediately pulled her out of her downward spiral and Shinji and Asuka used knocks on the wall to communicate with each other during their detention. It helped them to go through several days of isolation.

Good People Have Good Sex: After fighting Leliel, Shinji and Asuka had vanilla, passionate sex as often as possible. In contrast, Ritsuko and Gendo's relationship, while physically pleasurable, was entirely devoid of anything resembling love or passion.

Grand Romantic Gesture: To celebrate Asuka's 15th birthday, Shinji composed a string trio concerto and performed it alongside Rei and Kaworu. To say she liked it would be a massive understatement.

Gratuitous German: Asuka, of course, falls back on her mother tongue occasionally, especially when she is angry. When Zeruel was stomping on her Unit 02 she shouted: "Du Arschloch! Sie Ente verdammte Scheiße Esser! Ich bring dich um!"

Kaworu, having "grown up" in Germany, occasionally does this. At one point he even claims he was doing so when he accidentally brings up classified terms.

Shinji also starts speaking German as time goes on, due to Asuka tutoring him. He was even planning to speak nothing but German during her birthday party, though she shot down that idea because she thought that everyone else present would have trouble understanding.

Gratuitous Japanese: Some bits here and there (mainly Asuka calling Shinji "baka" or some honorifics), but its use in this story is not too jarring.

Gratuitous Spanish: In chapter 8, Misato says: "I want a watermelon daiquiri and air conditioning, pronto." It's possible she picked up some Spanish from her military service in South America during the post-Impact Wars.

Green-Eyed Epiphany: Inverted. Rei finds out why Ritsuko hates her when she realizes the scientist loves Gendo and is jealous of her.

Green-Eyed Monster: Asuka is very possessive of Shinji. She constantly states that he is hers and she is not sharing him or giving him up for nothing. Coincidentally all her female classmates have crushes on him and have simultaneously decided trying to seduce him, and their attempts to flirt with and hit on him drive her homicidally mad.

Grew a Spine: Shinji, with the help of Asuka's influence. Fully demonstrated in the fight with Bardiel, where he and Asuka convince Rei to disobey Gendo and attempt to rescue Hikari.

And thanks to Shinji and Asuka's influence, Rei develops one as well... covertly, so as not to cue Gendo in to the fact.

Happily Failed Suicide: Ritsuko attempted suicide via a painkiller and alcohol overdose after realizing that Gendo would never love her. In a moment of clarity she calls Rei for help, who helps her down the (long and hard) path of redemption for her part in trying to cause Third Impact. On the plus side, she's now in an emotionally fulfilling relationship with Maya and is mending her friendship with Misato.

Hates Being Alone: Asuka, obviously. The difference here is that she's actually explicit about showing it to Shinji (and, eventually, Rei) after they become a couple. Unlike in canon, she isn't alone anymore thanks to having Shinji, and she is extremely protective of that as a result.

When Gendo has Shinji and Asuka detained for insubordination after the fight with Bardiel, Asuka is starting to panic as the forced isolation sets in... until she hears Shinji knocking a familiar beat against the wall in the cell next to hers. It immediately pulls her out of the spiral and helps her get through the whole thing.

Hate Sink: Gendo is just as loathed, in and out of universe, in the fanfic as he is in official cannon.

Headphones Equal Isolation: Shinji used his headphones the whole time to block reality and run from it, but after getting together with Asuka, he hardly touches them. The first line in the prologue mentions briefly that Shinji's SDAT is sitting on his desk, gathering dust. The last line (after the reveal that Shinji and Asuka are a couple) points out his tape player has been gathering dust because it has not been touched in two months, since "retreat and escape from the world were no longer needed."

In the room across the hall, an old SDAT tape player sat on the desk in a beam of moonlight, gathering dust. It hadn't been touched in two months; retreat and escape from the world were no longer needed.

Healing Vat: After fighting Zeruel Rei spends an entire week in a transparent tank full of LCL, healing her body. Ritsuko spends that time observing her and resenting that she was forced to resort to old-fashioned bandages and band-aids whereas Rei had preferential treatment.

Gendo has the tank and its means of use classified so that no one but Ritsuko knows about it or can operate it. After Ritsuko's injuries make it necessary to use the tank herself, she defies his orders and shows Maya how it works.

He Knows Too Much: Rei wanted to tell Shinji and Asuka everything about her origins and NERV and SEELE's real goals, but Kaworu warned her that SEELE would kill them all if they found out that they knew too much.

Held Gaze: In chapter 1 Shinji and Asuka gaze straight at each other eyes deeply as they talk about their pasts. They can not break contact eye as they open up and realize how alike they are.

Hello, Nurse!: Asuka used to evoke this reaction from Shinji's male schoolmates. During a talk Shinji mentions that she was "miss incredibly-hot-exotic-foreign-transfer-student", and she had packs of boys drooling after her.

The Hero: Shinji. Main character and pilot of the strongest Humongous Mecha in the series, he finds his motivation to become a hero after hooking up with Asuka.

When Rei falls in love with both Shinji and Asuka she can not help to fantasize fondly about her beautiful red hair (despite previously hating red).

'Shinji's deep blue eyes... Asuka's crystal blue ones... her long red hair... his sensitive hands... her long legs, his compassion, her fire, her heat...'

Heroic BSoD: Asuka got one in episode 7 when Gendo fired her in the wake of the battle against Bardiel, which in her mind meant that she was useless since she had lost the only thing made her special and worthy of something. She collapsed, and Shinji had to catch her before she hit the ground and carry her out. Later she told him that she was hanging on by a thread, and she was coping only because he was there for her.

Heroic Self-Deprecation: Much like in canon, Shinji has incredibly low self esteem, although he gets better as the story progresses thanks to his relationship with Asuka. At one point, Tanaka tries to flirt with him by calling him a hero and it visibly makes him incredibly uncomfortable.

High-School Sweethearts: After their First Kiss Shinji and Asuka had a long, civil talk where they open up to each other and realized they were the same. They got together but they tried to keep their relationship secret out of fear to be separated. When an adult found out about their relationship and objected they firmly declared this was NOT a middle-school crush and they did not plan breaking up... ever.

Hint Dropping: After kissing for first time Asuka asks Shinji why he had never responded any of her advances favourably if he liked her. Dismayed, she learns that Shinji never realized that she was dropping hints.

In chapter 1:

Asuka:"Wait, if you feel like that about me, why didn't you ever respond any of the other times I tried to flirt with you? I've been trying to get you to do something for weeks!"Shinji:"Wait, other times? What other times?"Asuka:"When a girl walks up to you in a bikini and starts using her chest as a physics demo, she's trying to get your attention!"Shinji:"Oh."

And in chapter 2:

She'd finally gotten that dense, oblivious, blind baka to finally notice the fact she'd been trying to get him to react to her hints that she... kind of thought he was cute.

Hoist by His Own Petard: Ritsuko orders Shinji and Asuka spending more time with Rei, hoping that they help Rei to raise her synch scores. However the result is that Shinji and Asuka are learning things about Rei that neither Ritsuko nor Gendo want them knowing. Even worse, they have helped to Rei to become self-reliant and have bonded with her, and now she questions Gendo's will, trusts Shinji and Asuka more than she trusts him, and is willing to disobey his orders.

So she restricted herself to merely holding his hand on a couple of the narrower side streets during their walk to school. She told herself it was because he'd asked for it. It totally wasn't because his hand felt warm and made her feel the same, or because the handclasp made her skin tingle at the point of contact. Totally not. It must have been his feet that slowed their walk as they approached the point where more public streets would require them to let go again.

Chihiro and all remaining Shinji's female classmates chase after him obstinately. They have absolutely no hope, though. He is already in a relationship with Asuka, and even if Asuka was out of the picture, they would have to deal with Rei. When Shinji and Asuka finally come clean about their relationship, Asuka declares that "contest" was over before it began. After their declaration, some few girls seemed to be unwilling to give up, but most of them seemed to accept they had no hope.

In a way, Rei to both Shinji and Asuka. She fell for them but they are in a fully committed relationship and are not looking for an additional romantic partner, even if they love her (yet). And she does not want to disrupt their bond, either.

After getting together Shinji and Asuka's lives had gotten better: they were happier and more stable, they had kicked an Eldritch Abomination's posterior together, they were helping Rei to get in touch with her humanity and developing a strong bond with their teammate, their best friends were getting together... and then the Bardiel incident happened. Hikari got trapped inside Unit-03 and they got fired.

The whole fight against Zeruel was a sucession of Hope Spots. Several times Rei was apparently getting the upper hand or gaining an advantage or rising after getting stomped flat... right before getting pummelled by Zeruel again. And then Shinji and Asuka came along piloting Unit-03, saved Rei and started to beat Zeruel up... and then they ran out of power.

Hot-Blooded: Asuka is brave, passionate and hot-headed. When she fights alien monstrosities, when she scares other girls away Shinji, when she encourages her boyfriend and her friends, when she argues with her commanding officers... she oozes passion and fierceness.

House Husband: Shinji is the one makes all household chores in Misato's apartment while his guardian Misato and his roommate -and secret girlfriend- Asuka do nothing (except praising his cooking skills sometimes). So what happens when Shinji and Asuka decide to mess with Misato's head? Asuka wears an apron, cooks and insists she does all cooking, shopping, keeing the apartment clean and all laundry. Misato is so confused she barely can tell "What" over and again.

How We Got Here: Much of the opening act is spent chronicling the time before and after the two month period referenced in the page quote. This ends in Chapter 5, where the story has caught back up and moves forward.

Rei looks human but she's a piece of the soul of an old alien goddess stuck inside Yui Ikari's cloned body. She's constantly hurt and aching due to this.

When Rei meets Kaworu, he makes her upset and unsettled because she can feel that although he seems human, in reality he's something very different.

Humongous Mecha: The part-mechanical, part-biological Evangelion. Throughout the history Shinji and Asuka start to realize that they are not mere robots, and figure out some of their secrets (such like their mothers being stuck inside).

Hurting Hero: In chapter 1 Asuka and Shinji have a long conversation where they talk about how they were abandoned by their fathers after their mothers' deaths when they were three -and never got an explanation or apology-, they spent their whole childhood feeling lonely with no friends, nobody understood their pain or cared about it, they still have constant nightmares about it... after reaching each other out and bonding they feel more confident about winning the war against a bunch of giant alien monsters, but they still see their family and friends getting hurt constantly.

Hyper-Awareness: Rei is the first person to put together that her co-workers are behaving differently, and rapidly comes to the conclusion they are dating. Accidental (and later not-so-accidental) Trolling ensues.

Hypocritical Heartwarming: When Shinji loses a Strip Chess match against Pen Pen (long story) and becomes its butler for one month, Asuka wins him back because she will not put up with him slaving at the whims of a bird. When Misato asks if she is fine with Shinji slaving at her whims, she replies that is how it works.

Asuka: "Baka Shinji's mine, not some cheeky penguin's servant! I will not see him forced to slave at the whims of a bird!" Misato: "But you're just fine with him slaving at your whims?" Asuka: "Well, duh. That's the way things are supposed to go. He's mine. He belongs to me,"

Hypocritical Humor: While talking about their best friends Asuka laughed because Touji and Hikari were completely oblivious to each other's obvious feelings... and then she stopped laughing when Shinji made her realizing that they had done the same thing:

Asuka told him about Hikaris raging crush on Touji. Shed been only slightly surprised when Shinji mentioned Toujis matching infatuation with the petite Class Rep that he thought no one knew about. Asuka had laughed at the foolishness of the two of them liking each other but failing to see it was mutual, just dancing around each other for months until Shinji had given her a smirk and a stare.

I Know You Know I Know: In chapter 8 Kihl informs Gendo that they will send him the Fifth Child. Gendo knows the Fifth Child will surely be a spy. Kihl knows that Gendo will regard him suspiciously. And Gendo knows that Kihl knows that. And Kihl knows that Gendo knows that Kihl knows that.

Gendo: 'Fifth Child? So soon after we 'found' the Fourth? Kihl has to know I will regard anyone they send as a spy. And he knows I know that.'

"I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: In chapter 8 Rei gets doped to the gills due to Ritsuko's "medication" and is completely emotionless, unresponsive and unfeeling. Shinji and Asuka spend a good while trying to draw her out. When Rei finally -and laboriously- shows some emotion, Asuka asks her if she is still in there. When she says "yes", both teenagers feel relieved.

Asuka:: "Wondergirl, are you still in there?"

I Lied: After kissing Shinji, Asuka confessed that she wanted kiss him because she liked him. When he complains that wasn't what she said, she replied: "I lied.":

Shinji: "You just said you wanted to kiss me because you were bored!" Asuka:: "I lied."

I Miss Mom: When Shinji and Asuka open up to each other after their first kiss, they talk about their mothers' deaths and how much they miss them. Several months later, when they deduce that Yui and Kyoko are inside their giant robots, Asuka is thrilled and eager to get into her Eva and try to talk to her mother.

In chapter 8 Asuka and Shinji carry out a plan to let Misato know they are together and get her to accept they are also sleeping together and they will not stop. Every step of that plan (involving Strip Chess, foot massages and Shinji and Asuka swapping roles) invariably gets Misato craving for alcohol. Plenty of it.

'I need a beer, right away...' Misato stumbled her way back to the kitchen."Hey, Misato! We saved the world yesterday! Can we have a raise in our allowance?" Asuka called after her. 'A lot of beer...'

...having been all but immortal from birth, never knowing vulnerability, far too many of them never developed notions of empathy or restraint, or found them far too late.

In Spite of a Nail: Rei still sacrifices herself for the sake of a loved one to defeat Armisael. Strypgia said that this done to draw a contrast with everyone's motivations at that point in canon.

By having that one event turn out the same, but for entirely different reasons, the whys would be underlined, and the consequences even more so.

In Love with Your Carnage: In chapter 8 Ritsuko remembers the sight of Unit-01 howling like a blood-thirsty demon as its enemy was being ripped apart by its and Unit-02's combined efforts and she wonders inwardly: "That is your precious Yui there, Gendo, howling blood and madness like something from the depths of Hell! Is that what you want back?" The answer is a clear and definite yes, that is what Gendo wants.

Shinji thought he wasn't good enough for Asuka before and after hooking up with her. However Asuka disagrees and she always replies he's the only man good enough for her.

A part of Ritsuko really doesn't think she deserves Maya, due to the myriad sins of her past.

It's Personal: Misato wants to destroy the Angels because she blames them for her father's death.

I "Uh" You, Too: During a pillow talk scene Misato and Kaji are fed up with denying their feelings and pretending their relationship is only "friends with benefits"... but they are too frightened to spit it out, so they struggle to find a way to tell "I still love you" without actually saying the words:

Misato: "I want 'us' again. I don't know if I can... say it, yet, but... I want 'us'. [...] If Shinji and Asuka can figure this out, how to get past the walls between them... we can too," Kaji: "I'd... like that, [...] Us. Katsuragi...I..."

Rei falls in love with both Shinji and Asuka but she renounces to try to have a relationship with them because she does not want to interfere with their love bond:

"I... love you both," the blunette said softly. She raised her eyes with a noticeable struggle. "Shinji, you showed me care and compassion when no one else ever had, not even the Commander. Asuka, you helped free me from the drugs that clouded my mind when you had no reason to do anything but dislike me. And you both came for me and saved me in this battle. I... I look at you and I know I love you both.""Rei, we..." Shinji trailed off. What could he say? He looked over at Asuka. She shrugged too, at an equal loss.Rei waved her hands defensively at their shocked expressions. "No! I do not want to intrude! I... I will never try to... intersplice myself in your bond! It is too beautiful to disrupt! But... I wanted you both to know. I understand what this feeling is now. It is love. I will protect that feeling, and you. I will not allow any harm to come to you or your bond if I can ever do anything about it."

Subverted with their female classmates. They have guessed what something is happening between them and Asuka has kind of claimed Shinji, but they will not stop trying to seduce him.

I Was Just Joking: Touji called Shinji and Asuka newlyweds when they were having a -staged- fight. A while later they confessed publicly that they had been secretly dating for several months before kissing in front of all their classmates, and Touji muttered that he thought he was joking when he told they looked a married couple:

Touji: I thought I was joking about the 'married couple' thing.

Idiot Crows: In chapter 4 Shinji, Asuka and Rei are talking to a classmate. Rei is describing old battles, accidentally making it to sound like what Shinji is having sex with them, and Asuka is trying to explain what Rei really means as denying that she and Shinji are having sex... but then their classmate tries to placate her by telling Shinji would obviously never do anything with her, Asuka explodes and nearly blows their cover... and Shinji can hear a crow passing overhead and cawing repeatedly.

Tanaka:"Is... is she talking about-"Asuka(shouting and blushing):"NO,"Tanaka:"Um...right. Nothing improper! Perish the thought! Ikari-kun is a perfectly responsible young man! He'd never do anything indecent with you!"Asuka(bristling):"What do you mean he wouldn't do anything with me?! I'm the most beautiful girl he knows! He'd do anything he could with me, all night long, and beg for more!"The only sound in their corner of the schoolyard was the gentle click of Rei's chopsticks against the bottom of her bento and the 'caw, caw' of a lone crow passing overhead. Shinji buried his face in his hands.

Although Rei likes men and she cares about Shinji, she eventually also falls in love with Asuka due to the strong and enduring bond the three of them shape.

It was a "blink and you'll miss it" moment, but a scene hints Asuka's feelings towards Rei have become almost as strong as her love towards Shinji. Asuka tells: "I don't need anyone else but him, not even... Kaji." Strypgia brought her little hesitation to attention, hinting she was about to say a different name.

In chapter 7 Shinji manages getting Hikari out of Unit 03 where she was absorbed. Gendo could have realized maybe it meant Yui could come out, but she chose not to -therefore he should stop his little "I'll get the whole mankind killed in order to save my wife" scheme-, but he chose focusing on the fact that it is possible for a soul come out of an Eva.

In chapter 8 Rei shows many signs that she isn't interested in Gendo and she doesn't even like him. Still, Ritsuko refused to realize the implications, and kept drugging Rei because she thought that "the doll" was "competition."

The "I Love You" Stigma: When Shinji and Asuka argue with Misato about their relationship, both of them point out neither of them is the kind of people would say "I love you" to anyone easily.

"So yes, we're not going to stop being Pilots. Not when we finally know where our mothers are. But... don't try to separate us. We've earned this. You know what I was like. You think I'd say 'I love you' to anyone easily?"

I'm Having Soul Pains: Rei suffers this constantly due to only having a piece of Lilith's soul. It's part of the reason why she started off as a Death Seeker. Although she eventually finds something that can counteract the pain... hugs!

Imaginary Love Triangle: Ritsuko loves Gendo and believes that Rei is a threat to her "relationship" with him. In reality Rei is not in love with Gendo but with Shinji and Asuka or romantically drawn to him, and Gendo regards Rei as his daughter... and Ritsuko as an useful pawn.

Inconvenient Attraction: A variation. Kaworu doesn't actually love Rei (being a child of Adam makes that an alien concept to him). But his human body lusts after her, especially when she's angry, which just makes her even angrier.

Kaworu: The Lilim parts of my mind are making suggestions' for things they want to do with you! You are unfortunately very attractive!

He does start to feel genuine love towards her due to becoming more in tune with his human emotions and she reciprocates, which in itself is inconvenient since he's a risk to the human race merely by existing (on top of them having to keep up the appearance of being on opposite sides of the Ancient Conspiracy).

Inner Monologue: Asuka often talks with herself in this story due to her insecurities, fears and doubts tearing her apart. Frequently a side of herself starts to have doubts and another side retorts "Oh, just shut up!" or "Get a grip, Sohryu!"

In chapter 2, after spending the whole night with Shinji for first time she has a very long monologue:

'Alright, Soryu, quit dodging the issue. Yeah, losing purity points was fun and you can't wait to do it again, but that's not why you're hiding in the bathroom, afraid to look him in the eye right now, is it? He... said things last night. Made promises. He just did it again. That stupid, clumsy, dense baka... likes you. And you like him. He understands what it feels like. He's just like you. You're not alone. And he wants to stay with you.' "Which is Gott damn terrifying..." she whispered out loud. [...] Everything she could want. Pity she had no freaking idea what to do next. 'Okay, Soryu, you wanted to catch this tiger. Now you've got him. So now what? I didn't exactly have a plan for part two! Now I'm hiding in the bathroom because I'm afraid the minute we look at each other we're both going to go redder than my hair, Misato's going to figure it out, and make me go move in with Wondergirl. Then Shinji will realize he can do better than the nasty, useless pretend-Pilot I am and find someone else because every good thing in my life goes away and nobody wants me and...

In chapter 8 Shinji and Asuka have deduced that their mothers are stuck inside their Evas and Asuka is on the verge of freaking out and she has to remind herself mentally to keep calm:

'Nonononononono I want Mama now now now now n- Stop. Get a grip, Soryu, before your actual grip crushes your boyfriend's ribs.'

Innocent Blue Eyes: Shinji has -quoting Rei- "deep blue eyes" and he is pretty innocent and naive (at the beginning).

Innocent Fanservice Girl: Due to her upbringing Rei is completely clueless social-wise and she has no idea why people -like Shinji- freaks out when she walks naked or flashes her underwear. When they argued the subject Asuka could not tell whether Rei was innocent or trollish until she realized Rei was indeed oblivious. Then Asuka explained Rei why people had those reactions when she flashed them... And Rei started doing it on purpose.

In chapter 6 Rei shares details of past battles with a classmate... but she accidentally phrases it in such a way it sounds as if she is describing the pilots' sex life:

"Since after the Fifth Angel, when he forced open my armor with his blade and burst into my Entry Plug. No one else had ever gotten to my core with such need. He was urgent and forceful. It... made me smile." The faintest hints of such an expression appeared on Rei's lips. "I would like to do it again. Maybe more than once."

She does this again in chapter 9 when talking about practicing for a concert:

"Prepare your instrument, Nagisa. It is time to perform. Show me what you can do."

This conversation between Shinji and Kaworu. They're talking about playing music

Kaworu: Thank you, Shinji-kun. That was most pleasant. Shinji: Y-youre welcome, Kaworu-kun. Ive n-never done that with anyone before but Asuka. Kaworu: That was better than Id hoped. I would like to do this with you more often. Shinji: I I th-think Asuka would say thats her job. She might get upset at you trying to take that from her. Kaworu: Maybe we could do it while she watches? Give her a chance to rest between rounds? Shinji: What about me? Kaworu: You dont need to rest, Shinji-kun! You have amazing stamina for this!

And later, this particular gem:

Shinji: Um you really should um handle that by yourself, Kaworu-kun, Shinji said. Just get a grip on yourself- Kaworu: I dont know what to do with it! It wont go away! Please help me, Shinji-kun! You know what to do, right? Shinji: Ah Kaworu-kun, this cant be the first time youve um had this problem? Kaworu: Its not! But Its never been this um difficult! Shinji: Why? Kaworu: N-no reason! I just had trouble sleeping! Yes! That is why! He looked back at Shinji. Please, lend me a hand, Shinji-kun!

All the meanwhile, Asuka was literally rolling over the floor, laughing.

Insult of Endearment: Before getting together Asuka called Shinji "idiot". After getting together she calls him "her idiot". Since they are hiding her relationship, she uses it as an insult in public and as an endearing pet name in private.

Shinji: You know I'm your baka.

Rei started off calling Kaworu "Rainbow Trout" or "stupid fish" due to how alien he looked in her Aura Vision. It eventually becomes affectionate once she admits that she actually wants to be friends with him (she had previously avoided doing so since she knew that she'd eventually have to kill him). She even lampshades it when it makes the change from being an insult to a nickname.

Interrupted Intimacy: In chapter 7, Shinji and Asuka enter Misato's apartment, talking about having a shower and intercourse right away when Kaji walks into them. Oops.

Intertwined Fingers: Shinji and Asuka linked hands and interwined their fingers as they explained their relationship to Misato:

Together they brought their hands between them up from below the level of the table and let them rest on the table. Asuka's left hand was on top of Shinji's right, fingers interlaced in a tight grasp.

Asuka and Shinji got together due to miscommunication, the very same thing that kept them from getting together in canon.

Misato had been a Shipper on Deck for Shinji and Asuka since day one, but they viewed her as the greatest threat to their relationship.

Part of the reason that Rei starts off so hostile to Kaworu is due to their opposing natures from being the hosts of Lilith and Adam's souls. A flashback later on reveals that the entire reason both Adam and Lilith ended up on Earth is because Lilith was in love with Adam and subconsciously followed him.

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J-L

Jerkass Has a Point: Like the old saying says, "even a broken clock is right twice a day," meaning it is literally impossible to be wrong about everything 100% of the time, even if one tries. The forums point out that Gendo's decision to put Ritsuko "on the back burner" when she's injurede during Zeruel's attack, and the mandatory quarantine on Hikari are both practically, strategically, and tactically correct, the cold, cruel, and callous method by which he does it is very quickly eroding what little loyalty of his staff and pilots have. Of, course, he doesn't careexpecting his scenario to bear fruit long before anyone can retaliate against his abuses.

Keeping Secrets Sucks: Rei really wants to tell Asuka and Shinji about her true nature and everything else she knows involving SEELE and NERV, but Kaworu pointed out that they would be killed for knowing too much if she did. This leads her to take out her frustration on him because he's the only one she can talk to about it.

Rei: She is crying and hurt and upset and I dont know what to do and yet she still tries to make me feel better and I just had to leave her and run away because if I dont shell ask why I cant say anything or shell get hurt and aaaaRRRGH!

Gendo pulls a double-whammy with Bardiel, when he orders the pilots to destroy Unit-03 with no care for the well-fare of Hikari. When they instead manage to successfully retrieve the plug and destroy the Angel anyways, he has Shinji and Asuka thrown into confinement and fired purely out of spite for being disobeyed.

Ritsuko in chapter 8 as she tries desperately to convince herself that Gendo cares about her even as he treats her like crap. During an Angel attack she gets hurt and hospitalized; when she wakes up and hears Gendo has not visited even once she gets angry. When she realizes Gendo spent hours checking if Rei and Unit 01 were fine and later he even visited a wounded pilot she got angrier. When he called she was hopeful... and then he asked if she could return to her post right away, and she got furious. It only gets worse from that point on.

The Kid with the Remote Control: After finding out about each other's past Shinji and Asuka often argue it can not be a coincidence that the only people capable to pilot an Evangelion are mind-broken orphan kids whose mothers died while testing the Evas. After Hikari gets selected as pilot their doubts increase and finally they figure out the truth: they can control their robots because their mothers are stuck inside.

Kissing Discretion Shot: Rei and Kaworu's First Kiss played out this way during New Year's.note First romantic kiss, that is. They had kissed several days prior at the Christmas party, and Rei claimed that it was supposed to be platonic. The two of them lean towards each other and the scene ends with the words "Midnight struck", though it's clear that the kiss actually happens.

Knight of Cerebus: Once again, Bardiel fills this role. The story's tone takes a much more serious and drama-focused weight during and after the battle, with Hikari left disembodied inside Unit-03 as well as Shinji and Asuka being thrown into solitary confinement.

Lack of Empathy: Gendo, to even higher levels than shown in the series proper. He's downright angry when the pilots opt to try and successfully save their friend from Bardiel, purely because it wasn't what they were ordered to do.

Lap Pillow: In chapter 8, Asuka rests her head on Shinji's lap as she complains about them being forced to sleep in separate beds, and Shinji strokes through her hair as he reassures her.

Shinji looked down at his girlfriend's face, her head pillowed in his lap. "Hmm? Usually you really like this." His hands kept stroking through her hair.

Latex Space Suit: Shinji, Asuka and Rei wore plugsuits, tight suits made to improve their synch with their giant robots. Shinji and Asuka got quite sick of them when they were detained since they spent two whole days wearing their liquid-drenched, sweaty plugsuits. When Gendo fired them he sent them off without even giving them time to change clothes, and they spent the whole way back to Misato's apartment wondering what doing with the damned suits they were not supposed to bring out of the base, or where storing them.

Misato:"But it's Shin-chan's night to cook! [...] That's way better than even my best curry!" Asuka: "The last time you fed 'your best curry' to Pen Pen, he spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling and barking."

Let Us Never Speak of This Again: In chapter 8 Misato brings up several old incidents where a severely intoxicated Ritsuko kissed her and flirted with her when they were college students. Ritsuko cuts her off, reminding her they were not supposed to speak of it again.

Misato:"Take her out for drinks next time instead of me and Kaji? [...] It's not like you've never kissed a girl before. Or done even m-"Ritsuko:"And you promised that we'd never speak of it again, and that it was only because we were both hammered out of our minds and hadn't had a guy in months,"

Let's Wait a While: Shinji and Asuka have a conversation shortly after hooking up, and he tells her that, even if the HAD enjoyed kissing and groping, they did not need to have sex right away because he also enjoyed talking with her, and he wants all of her, so he is okay with waiting. It doesn't last, given that a near-death experience shortly afterward leads them to have Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex.

Lighter and Softer: To the canon history. The story changes a specific event, and as a result Shinji and Asuka lean on each other as they endure trauma after trauma rather insolating from each other, breaking down and imploding.

Like an Old Married Couple: In chapter 5 Shinji and Asuka stage a fight during lunch break so that nobody suspects they are together. However they are not very good actors and rather a fight between two friends that do not get along well it seems an argument between two persons have been married for years. When Touji says so, they blush profusely and shout in unison "It's not like that!" Of course, their synchronised reply only reinforces the effect.

Shinji utters one when he wrongly thinks that Asuka has changed her mind on getting together before she can explain that was not what she meant.

Shinji's face fell. "No..." he said, his voice hollow.

When Kaji caughts Shinji and Asuka about to have sex, he tries to talk them into stopping. Asuka's answer is a final, inexorable "No."

Living Emotional Crutch: Shinji, to Asuka. To a lesser extent, Asuka is one to Shinji as well. Over time, Shinji and Asuka become this to Rei.

Locked Out of the Loop: Rei wanted to reveal to Shinji and Asuka all NERV's dark secrets, but she kept her mouth shut because she feared that SEELE would find out and kill them. Nonetheless, she explained them why she was keeping things from them, and Shinji and Asuka understood her reasons.

Loners Are Freaks: During their post-First Kiss conversation Shinji and Asuka dejectedly tell they were always alone after their mothers' deaths and their fathers' abandonment: they had no friends because no one wanted to talk to them, no one even tried to understand their pain or cared... and no one could in fact understand.

Lost Him in a Card Game: In chapter 8 Shinji loses a Strip Chess match against Pen Pen and becomes his "butler" for a month (long -and hilarious- story). Asuka wanted to win Shinji back, so she and the penguin played another Strip Chess match. If she won, she would have Shinji back and he would be her cabaña boy for one week; if Pen Pen won, Shinji would be his butler for one month AND she would do all Shinji's chores. Pen Pen lost the match and Shinji.

Love at First Punch: When Kaworu implied that he was going to disturb Shinji and Asuka's bond, Rei beat him up and threatened him. He is completely awed by how beautiful she looks when she's angry.

Love Confession: After The prologue showed Shinji and Asuka keeping a Secret Relationship, chapter 1 narrated how it came to pass: Shinji accidentally placed his hands on Asuka's waist during their First Kiss, and that action turned the moment into The Big Damn Kiss. Right after Shinji blurted his feelings out... and Asuka said she liked him back and had been actually trying to get his attention for weeks.

Love Epiphany: Shinji and Asuka fully acknowledged their feelings and realized each other's when they kissed in chapter 1. Rei realized what she loved them both as fighting Zeruel.

Gendo is a bastard because he had always been frightened of other people. Yui was the only person he ever opened up to. When he lost her he became a broken, pathetic shell of a man, too afraid to love and relate to other people and utterly obsessed with saving her. All of it is explored in chapter 8.

When Shinji and Asuka got together they were happy because they were not alone anymore... so that when one of them was in danger or they were forcibly separated they were terrified of being alone again.

Shinji and Asuka helped Rei to stop being a puppet and connect with other people. She bonded with them to the point she loves them both and it hurts her being unable to be with them because they don't love her that way and she does not want to disrupt their bond either.

Shinji and Asuka helped Touji and Hikari to get together. When Hikari got absorbed into Unit 03 spent several days depressed, lonely, afraid and worried, not knowing what had happened to her.

Lovely Angels: Asuka and Rei. When they start to spend time together their bond grows and they learn to fight together more effectively. Also, Asuka and Hikari. When they fought Zeruel, Hikari was stuck inside Unit 03, and Shinji used her bond with Hikari to move it around and fight.

Love Makes You Dumb: Ritsuko is a very smart and resourceful scientist... but she has fallen for Gendo and has deluded into thinking Gendo does or will love her back... even though he always treats her like crap at best and an useful but disposable and ultimately replaceable pawn at worst, and he has provided her with plenty evidence that the only woman he will ever love is his deceased wife. Still she repeatedly tells herself: "He will love me. He must! He needs me!"

It's pointed out several times in story and -out of story by the author- that Gendo does that he does (which includes treating his children and subordinates like crap, using child soldiers and treating them like replaceable and expendable troops, using suppressant drugs to turn Rei into an obedient, mindless puppet, firing Shinji and Asuka -his best pilots- for a so-called insubordination and plotting the end of the world) because in his mind nothing -NOTHING!- is so important like his wife and he will do everything and anything to save her.

Ritsuko finally confesses to Maya that she made a lot of evil things because she loved Gendo.

Love Revelation Epiphany: Subverted. Misato thinks that Shinji and Asuka are oblivious to each other's feelings and in the Prologue she tries to make Shinji realizing Asuka loves him. Ironically they had gotten together several weeks ago and had kept their relationship a secret.

Love Triangle: Asuka and Shinji liked each other, and Rei liked Shinji. At the beginning Asuka was jealous but she got over it when she and Rei became friends. However, as the bonds between the three pilots became stronger, Rei fell for both. Yet she will do nothing because she does not want to disrupt their relationship.

Asuka had a crush on her guardian Kaji because she longed for being acknowledged and treated as an adult and he was the only decent father figure she had known. After hooking up with Shinji and realizing Kaji was infatuated with Misato, she dropped her crush right away.

Ritsuko was in love with Gendo but she did not know him at all.

At the same time she thinks Maya's crush on her is idol worship because Maya did not know her real self.

Luminescent Blush: After getting together, Shinji and Asuka blush often when they are together or someone drops hints about their feelings.

In chapter 3 Asuka flushes while thinking of what her and Shinji did the last night right after getting together. Later Shinji becomes red after slipping that thinking about Asuka kept him awake at night.

Girls suddenly find Shinji a lot more attractive once he and Asuka open up to each other. Of course, since they're trying to keep their relationship a secret, Asuka can't do anything but glare menacingly and curse under her breath while other girls try to steal her man.

Rei actually invokes this by pretending to be going out with Kensuke in order to get him a real girlfriend. It works.

In the start of chapter 5 Shinji and Asuka have sex on a chair on Misato's apartment's living room. Later in that chapter they are so desperate for having a little of private fun together after four days of forced abstinence (due to their guardian being home and sober at the night and their teammate following them everywhere) that they have sex in the school's cleaning supply closet.

And In chapter 8, Ritsuko wanted Gendo taking her on his office's desk.

Male Gaze: Shinji had a hard time NOT gawking openly at Asuka's body. After getting together it is even harder for him. He stares at her the whole time but he still tries to be discreet about it since they are trying to keep a Secret Relationship.

In chapter 3 Asuka is (pretending) lecturing him about the water being too hot, but Shinji is barely keeping track of the conversation since he is too busy staring at her bare legs.

A small part of his brain was concentrating on not dropping the hot pot on his feet, because most of it was trying not to drool helplessly over the way Asuka's long, smooth legs disappeared up under the hem of the towel, mixed in with memories of last night that said sight triggered.

Mama Bear: In chapter 3 Asuka had been trapped into Leliel. Shinji thought he wanted to save her not matter what, even if he had to unleash his Evangelion's power. Mama Yui heard and answered his plea. Meanwhile Asuka thought she wanted to live and be with Shinji and asked her mother helping her. Mama Kyoko heard and answered her plea. And all of sudden Leliel was being ripped apart by two blood-thirsty berserker mothers trapped into giant robots.

In the same chapter, Misato slapped Ritsuko to the ground when she declared Asuka to be expendable.

That's one of my kids, you heartless bitch!

Manipulative Bastard: Gendo is a manipulative bastard, but he isn't as good as he'd like believing. When the Children refused to follow his orders, he reprimanded Rei severely and fired Shinji and Asuka, thinking that, in the event that he needed them back, he knew what buttons pressing: Rei was brainwashed to obey him, Asuka needed to be an Eva pilot to validate her own existence, and Shinji craved for his approval and would never want to be apart from Asuka. Usually he'd be right, but they had changed when he wasn't paying attention, and those emotional levers wouldn't work.

The Masochism Tango: Ritsuko has convinced herself that her relationship with Gendo is good and he actually cares about her even though Gendo ALWAYS treats her like a pawn and he constantly shows nothing is as important as Yui to him. Chapter 8 provides a good example of this: Ritsuko got hurt during a battle and was taken to med bay. Gendo never went to see her. He spent hours making sure Rei and Unit 01 were fine and he came to see one of the pilots, but he did not spend a second waiting for Ritsuko's side. Ritsuko was aware of this and suitably angry. Still when he called her to see if she was ok she felt happier, thinking he cared... until he asked if she could start to work again.

Mass "Oh, Crap!": When they watch Zeruel defeating Rei and crushing the two drone-controlled Evas single-handedly and easily, everyone shows this reaction.

The Matchmaker: In chapter 8, Shinji and Asuka decide to help Rei find someone.

Matchmaker Crush: Inverted. Both Shinji and Asuka had a crush on Rei but they weren't willing to share, so they decide to look for someone who is good enough for her.

Meaningful Echo: During the battle against Zeruel, Rei shouted "You... will not... harm them... I... will... not... permit... it!" while defending Asuka and Shinji. She shouts the exact same thing when protecting Kaworu from Armisael. In both cases, this happened soon after she realized she was in love with the person she was defending.

Meet the In-Laws: It's mentioned in the passing in Chapter 9 that Hikari was finally introducing Touji to her family. She probably would have done it sooner but she had been under quarantine ever since Shinji and Asuka got her out of Unit-03.

In a slightly less conventional example, Asuka and Shinji both meet each other's mothers during a cross-synch test in Chapter 10. Despite Kyoko's mental instability and Asuka viciously calling out Yui for all the crap she put Shinji through, it goes rather well.

The Men in Black: The Nerv's agents. Asuka calls them "Gendo's private Gestapo". After the battle against Bardiel they arrested Shinji and Asuka per orders of the Commander, and after the battle against Zeruel they dragged both teens to meet Gendo. In no instance they were remotely kind, warm or agreeable.

Mildly Military: NERV's formality Varies depending on the character. Gendo fired his best pilots only because they did not follow orders, even though they won the battle and he had no replacements. Misato is pretty informal but she puts her foot down when she thinks it is warranted: she was okay with two of her pilots dating each other because she thought it was cute, but she was against them sleeping together, and brought up chain-of-command concerns when her wards argued the matter with her.

Milking the Giant Cow: Downplayed example. In chapter 8, while having lunch with his friends, Touji is so frustated with being not allowed seeing his girlfriend while she spends time in the hospital that he stretched his hands out and "nervously grasped at nothing".

Mind Rape: Both Rei and Kaworu end up getting attacked by Arael and are subjected to their worst fears (Rei being rejected by Asuka and Shinji for her angelic nature, and Kaworu giving into his instincts and causing The End of the World as We Know It). Rei takes it so hard that she begs Ritsuko to drug away the pain afterwards despite her history with being drugged. Fortunately, there are no long term effects thanks to the emotional support from their friends.

Mind Screw: When Asuka got trapped into the Sea of Dirac she got a very weird hallucination where she was in a train car and a child version of her talked about "the self inside of the self" and asked what she was afraid of and whether she was valued. Asuka later described that episode in these terms: "I... it was like I had eaten too much spicy food and fallen asleep reading Sartre or something. Just a weird conversation with myself about... the self, and loneliness. It didn't make much sense."

After their First Kiss Shinji tells Asuka his mother died when he was four. Astonished, Asuka reveals her mother died when she was four, too.

Later Rei reveals to them that she grew up without a mother.

Hikari's mother is also missing although she felt her when she was stuck inside her Eva.

Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Shinji was abandoned by his father Gendo when he was four, Asuka was also abandoned by her father when she was four and then trained to be a Child Soldier, they have been used like disposable and replaceable weapons for Gendo and then fired when he thought he had a replacement who would not disobey their orders, and in chapter 7 they found that their mothers' deaths were not "accidents"... in summary, they are turning on Nerv.

Moment Killer: In a scene, Shinji and Asuka are about to have a shower together and have "fun" at the same time when Kaji shows up all of sudden, ruining their plans.

Mood Whiplash: During one scene in Chapter 9, Rei and Kaworu are having an argument regarding Rei's inability to tell Shinji and Asuka certain secrets. It's played seriously, up until it turns out Kaworu has a boner.

In chapter 10, a light-hearted discussion of Rei's friendship with Kaworu is interrupted when Rei suddenly collapses, while Kaji catches a SEELE spy who has apparently sabotaged the Dummy Plug Plant.

In chapter 9, Ritsuko and Misato go out drinking with Kaiji and Maya. Misato and Kaiji have started dating again which causes some good matured ribbing from Ritsuko, aimed at Misato. When Maya leaves to go to the bathroom Misato notices tell tale signs that someone has been "Drilling her like the West Texas" and correctly assumes she and Ritsuko are now an item. She then tries to return Ritsuko's teasing... only for Ritsuko to have a borderline panic attack at Misato figuring it out, genuinely terrified that Gendo might find out and hurt Maya, leading to her practically begging Misato not to tell anyone.

Morality Chain: Rei is the one thing keeping Kaworu from giving into his Angelic instincts and becoming Tabris. When she dies in a Heroic Sacrifice against Armisael, it's only thanks to a combination of his knowledge that she usually gets better in other timelines and a well timed pep talk from Mrs Horaki that keeps him from trying to start Third Impact right then and there.

Motherly Scientist: Subverted with Ritsuko. She looks nice at the beginning. However she doesn't care for Rei, mistreats her and regards her as a doll and a tool at best, or a creepy abomination at worst.

Mugging the Monster: When Asuka joined Shinji's class, a horde of boys chased her. When she said she wanted to date nobody, two boys refused to accept her answer and tried to get hard. It turned out that fragile, little girl punched hard.

Shinji:' "How come I'm the one with the pack after them? You were ten times as popular as I was, a week after you arrived, miss incredibly-hot-exotic-foreign-transfer-student. I know Touji and Kensuke were making crazy amounts of cash selling beauty shots of you almost right away. Why haven't I had to chase away a pack of boys drooling after you?" Asuka: "Because I already had them properly terrified and respectful after I mashed the first two flat when they tried to ask me out the week I got here and refused to take 'no' for an answer, [...] Putting a couple of them on the ground with a few punches when they got rough taught the others to keep off."

Mundane Utility: Ritsuko and Maya use their sysop access to the MAGI computer to flirt by leaving messages for each other in the change log. Admittedly, they also use it to plot how to take down Gendo's scenario, but that doesn't change the fact that they're using the most advanced computer ever built for the purpose of phone sex.

My Eyes Are Up Here: In chapter 4 Shinji was sitting down when he realized someone was looming over him. He looked up to find a pretty big bossom. Quickly he looked further up to meet that girl's face.

At one point, Maya gets a view of Ritsuko in a swimsuit. She attempts several times to look up, only to fail each time, and only snaps out of if when Ritsuko clears her throat.

Mythology Gag: After the end of second chapter Misato promises fanservice after giving a preview of the next chapter.

Negative Space Wedgie: In chapter 3 the pilots fight Leliel, a being that is apparently a floating, white-and-black-striped sphere. It turns out that the sphere is a shadow, and its "shadow" is Leliel's real body: an impossibly thin body that stores a whole alternate dimension of blank nothingness. Asuka falls inside it and spends twelve hours trapped inside Leliel as the alien monster tries to mind-rape her. She gets saved when her mecha goes berserker at the same time that Shinji's.

Never My Fault: Gendo blamed Shinji, Asuka and Rei for disobeying his orders when they fought Bardiel. Never mind his strategy was dumb and nearly got them killed. Never mind they HAD to disobey his commands in order to adapt and survive the enemy attack. Never mind they won, destroying Bardiel, rescuing the pilot and recovering the Unit hijacked by the enemy by ignoring his interfering commands. He blamed them for "insubordination" and "endangering the humanity", he punished Shinji and Asuka and threatened Rei.

New Transfer Student: At the end of episode 8, Kaworu Nagisa is transferred to Shinji's school. Rei sensed he wasn't human and took a dislike to him right away. For his part, Kaworu found her fascinating... and scary. Very fascinating and very, very scary.

Nice Guy: Shinji always tries to be kind and polite. He even felt guilty after turning Chihiro down, because he thought maybe he'd been too harsh.

Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: Bardiel grew a S2 organ into Unit 03 when it hijacked the giant mecha. Thanks to that NERV got an Eva would not run out of power, which saved Shinji and Asuka when they used Unit 03 to fight Zeruel and they ran out of external power.

Nightmare Sequence: In chapter 8, Asuka has a nightmare in which she and Shinji were fighting Israfel again, and Shinji dies. Meanwhile Shinji has another nightmare where he sees Asuka sinking again in the volcano's magma, he jumps in to rescue her, and he misses.

No Medication for Me: The only reason Rei was taking "a giant cocktail of sedatives, dissociatives, mood suppressors, and hormonal contraceptives" was because it made it easier for Gendo to control her, and Asuka pretty much begs her to stop taking it when she finds out (Asuka had previously been put on Benzodiazepine by her step-mother for similar reasons). Rei ends up going through several months of various withdrawal symptoms, but slowly starts experiencing emotions as she detoxes. She also had the good sense to research the proper speed to ween herself off and obtained a counter agent to reduce the nastier side effects.

Noodle Incident: In chapter 4 Asuka says to Rei she reacted so strongly when she found out Rei was being ordered taking emotion-suppressants drugs because her step-mother tried something like that when she was younger, but she did not explain what her step-mother had tried to do.

Asuka. Even before getting together with Shinji she used to invade other people's personal space aggressively and spontaneously, specially if she was interested in them.

All Shinji's female classmates with a crush on him tend to get closer than Shinji would like. Specially Chihiro Tanaka, who does not seem to get the "personal space" concept. In chapter 6 she gets Asuka mad when she gets way too close to Shinji.

Her beloved baka was under siege by at least half a dozen of the usual Harpies, led by that bitch Tanaka. Shinji sat nervously with his back to the fence, surrounded by pretty young girls. Geek-Stooge sat next to him, staring just as nervously at the surrounding ring of girls. Luckily for him, they were ignoring him in favor of staring hungrily at Shinji. Shinji had less than a meter of space around him. Tanaka herself was leaning way into Shinji's personal space, reaching a hand out to touch his face oh no we are not having that!

When they open up in chapter 1, Shinji and Asuka remark that neither of them has social skills due to their childhood trauma and growing up with no friends. Asuka realizes that is the reason that Shinji never got her hints.

When the three pilots are ordered to spend time together Asuka -and Shinji- finds out that Rei is weirder and socially-unaware that she previously thought: she does not understand the concept of modesty, does not know what a double entendre is, does not know any thing about relationships between boys and girls... and she has never known her mother. Oh, and NERV is drugging her. Rei's social awkwardness is what leads Shinji and Asuka to suspect that NERV is up to something real bad.

No Sympathy: Ritsuko has zero sympathy or compassion for the pilots and their plight. In chapter 6 she shows she doesn't care at all for their reactions to a possibly upsetting situation:

Ritsuko coolly went back to her typing. "We need Children like this, in order for us all to survive. They'll deal with it or they won't."Misato half-glared at her. "Your compassion is heartwarming, Doctor! I'm the one who has to tell them about this!"

Not Helping Your Case: Every time Asuka tries to convince Misato that she and Shinji are mature enough to be sleeping with each other, she ends up saying something sexual (usually about the wonderful things Shinji can do with his hands).

At the beginning of the story Shinji and Asuka realize they are alike. Since that point, when they are trying to understand each other, each one of them thinks "He/she is just like me. How would I feel in that situation?"

When Asuka fell into the Leliel otherdimensional trap, Shinji acted incredibly cool and unemotional as she was missing. Misato thought he looked just like his father.

In chapter 7 Kaji is arguing with Shinji and Asuka. During that discussion Shinji looked so cold and his stare so harsh and firm that Kaji could not help to think of how much Shinji resembled his father.

This is a reoccurring theme throughout the story. Almost every major character finds someone that then never expected to be so similar to them.

Obfuscating Stupidity: After getting together Shinji and Asuka start to figure out several secrets of Nerv by comparing their pasts and their experiences piloting their Evangelions, but since they realize they are not supposed to know about them and they are trying to keep their relationship under wraps they pretend they are clueless and oblivious to not draw unwanted attention to themselves.

Oblivious to Hints: After kissing for first time Asuka asks Shinji why he had never responded any of her advances favorably if he liked her. Dismayed, she learns that Shinji was completely oblivious to her hints. In chapter 2:

She'd finally gotten that dense, oblivious, blind baka to finally notice the fact she'd been trying to get him to react to her hints that she... kind of thought he was cute.

Oblivious to Love: Subversion. In the prologue Misato thinks Shinji and Asuka are still oblivious to each other's feelings and she tries to encourage Shinji to win Asuka over... not knowing they got together two months ago. The first chapter narrates how they accidentally noticed each other's feelings after dancing around each other for months without realizing the obvious, and both got shocked reactions.

Off with His Head!: In chapter 7 Zeruel beheads Unit 00 with a single blow of its arm-whips.

In chapter 4, when Shinji learns his father took Rei in after abandoning him, he is so furious it gets Asuka shocked:

Asuka blinked in surprise. Shinji was furious. She'd never seen him this angry. The usual calm expression he gave the world, or the warm and loving one he showed her when they were alone was gone. His face was twisted in a violent combination of anger, pain, and betrayal. She'd seen the Third Child without his clothes a lot in the last two weeks, but she'd never seen Shinji this naked.

In chapter 8 Rei is undergoing a memory scan. It is a long, tedious process, but Rei never complains, gets bored or tired. So that when she actually displays resignation and impatience, Ritsuko -who oversees the scan- becomes startled and wonders if the emotion suppressants they fed Rei with are not working.

Ritsuko flicked another momentary glance at the First Child. That reply had been... no, that couldn't have been resignation. Rei didn't get bored.

Everyone also has a hard time processing the fact that Rei got angry at Kaworu (who she just met), let alone the fact that she's angry at all.

The reason that Rei even considered to stop taking her meds was the fact that Asuka begged her to stop.

The Second Child had never said "please" to her before, never asked her anything in a tone of voice this naked.

Ordered Apology: Gendo fired Shinji and Asuka for so-called insubordination, and alleged the dummy plug automatic system would suffice to control their war mechas. However, the drones failed and Shinji and Asuka came along to save everybody. SEELE ordered Gendo reinstating them in service and apologizing. And Gendo did so... using the most token, most backhanded, most insincere apology in existence.

Orphan's Ordeal: After kissing for first time, Shinji and Asuka open up to each other and find out their childhoods were very similar: their mothers died, their fathers left them with no explanation or apology, they had nightmares the whole time about it, and they were always alone because no one cared about them or tried to understand their pain.

P-R

Parental Abandonment: After their First Kiss Shinji blurts out accidentally he was abandoned by his father when he was a little kid after his mother's death. Amazed, Asuka muses that is exactly what happened to her. Both teenagers talk about how they never got an apology or explanation from their fathers, how they still miss their mothers and have nightmares about their deaths... and start bonding thanks to their shared griefs.

Parental Favoritism: Subverted. Rei is Gendo's favorite. However Asuka realizes that it does not amount to be valued since Gendo still treats Rei like crap. Finding out what Rei's life is like helps Asuka to get over her jealousy.

Asuka didn't say anything for a minute. "She's the Commander's pet, his favorite," she said in a low voice. "Not you, his own son. Not me, the top scorer. Her. She's the one he likes. And they've got her taking so many tranquilizers and dissociatives I'm amazed she was even able to get angry enough to slap you. That amount of drugs has to be making her nearly a robot. That 's the kind of cocktail you give to someone you want to keep totally pliable, unargumentative, too doped up to care about anything... someone you want to make into a doll." Asuka shuddered. "If they can do that to the Pilot they like, what do they think of us?"

Parental Hypocrisy: Subverted. When Misato wanted to forbid Shinji and Asuka from sleeping together Asuka tried to argue Misato was being a hypocrite. It did not work.

Misato:"'Most of your life'? Asuka, you're fourteen! You two can't be doing this!"Asuka:"You'd have done the same at our age!"Misato:"At your age plus a year I was catatonic from watching Second Impact at Ground Zero! You are still a child!"

Parental Obliviousness: Shinji and Asuka got together and after a short while started sleeping together... and Misato kept thinking they were stuck on the Belligerent Sexual Tension phase. When they finally came clean about their relationship several months later, Misato thought they were pulling a prank on her because she did not believe they could get together without her noticing anything (to be fair, they deceived nearly everybody).

Parental Substitute: Misato is this to Shinji and Asuka. She takes care after them and even tries to encourage them to get together... having no idea that they hooked up with each other when she was not looking.

People Jars: Rei spent most part of chapter 8 stuck inside a transparent vat filled with LCL while her body healed and her most recent memories were uploaded to her clones.

Person of Mass Destruction: Shinji, Asuka and Rei are capable of massive property damage or even ending humanity. And Rei not even needs a giant robot to turn all humans into orange soup.

In chapter 4 Touji asks Shinji how he has managed getting so many girls after him and starts moaning he wants one of those hot babes notice his well-muscled body. Hikari hurled a chalk at his forehead and yelled him.

"C'mon, Shin-man, you've gotta tell us what you're doin' different, so we can get in on it! I could finally get one of these hot babes to notice my studly, well-muscled bod-OW!" Touji's paean to his handsome form was cut off by the impact of a well-aimed piece of chalk to the middle of his forehead."Sit DOWN, Suzuhara!" Hikari roared at him. "And shut up!"

Surprisingly averted with Asuka in that same chapter. When she found out about Shinji accidentally seeing Rei naked and touching her right breast she was pissed off... but since it was an accident, she did not hold it against him.

After Kaworu gets a boner from her yelling at him, Rei assaults him with a tree branch.

Rei: DIE, STUPID FISH!

Perverted Sniffing: Prior to the two of them hooking up, Asuka had stolen one of Shinji's sleep-shirts for this purpose. She later ended up using it as a security blanket of sorts after a particularly bad nightmare (Misato was forcing the two of them to sleep in seperate beds at the time, so she couldn't hug Shinji for comfort).

His scent... she couldn't have him next to her right now, but she could still fall asleep with his smell there. Maybe that would extend a little of its protective power.

Pet the Dog: The closest Gendo ever gets to acting like a decent human being is actively explaining the rationale, when asked by Shinji and Asuka, for his decisions concerning Hikari's quarantine and assigning both Shinji and Asuka, as a pair, to Unit-03, rather than simply going "I'm the boss, you will do as I say, or else" as he usually does.

Pitbull Dates Puppy: Shinji's female schoolmates don't understand why he is infatuated with Asuka because they think that she's a brutish tsundere and he a timid wallflower.

The Plan: When Rei was fighting Zeruel all alone, because Asuka and he got fired, and she was losing badly, Shinji came up with a plan to help her: return to the Geofront and hijack a spare Eva Unit, reasoning that Asuka and himself would be able to move it together. Was it a good plan? Yes, it was.

Polyamory: Thanks to Rei's social engineering, Kensuke ends up in a relationship with two girls.

Poor Communication Kills: Discussed. During their heart-to-heart talk, Shinji and Asuka realize that they had been distressed and upset for months because they were unable to spit their feelings out clearly: Asuka was unable to say out loud she liked Shinji, so she dropped subtle hints, Shinji never got them, she thought that he was unininterested rather oblivious because he never said he liked her, she got mad, Shinji believed she hated him because he drove her mad...

Power Echoes: When Rei faced Kaworu and taped into her hidden power, her voice reverberated.

Power Floats: Downplayed. When Rei is arguing with Kaworu, she taps her power subconsciously, and her clothes ruffle despite the lack of wind.

The Power of Friendship: The only reason Shinji and Asuka were able to perform a joint synchronization with Unit-03 was because they were friends with Hikari and the she had been absorbed during the previous angel attack. Said friendship also managed to get her out of the Eva when the battle was over.

In a more mundane example, Rei found in her research that emotional support from friends and family is highly important when dealing with the psychological withdrawal symptoms of the drugs that Doctor Akagi had put her on. And since the only "family" she has is Gendo (the same person who had Ritsuko give her the drugs in the first place), she understandably asks Shinji and Asuka for help instead. Her second detox would be more accurately qualified as The Power of Love.

The Power of Hate: In chapter 11, Asuka uses her hatred of SEELE to keep herself from suffering an emotional breakdown after Shinji is nearly killed defending her from assassins.

If I don't stay angry, you're going to get 'screaming black depression Asuka' instead, because the man I love more than air is lying in a hospital bed with a goddamn bullet hole in him, and I do not want to start thinking about how close he came to dying again, so... Angry. I want their heads, Misato. No, fuck that. I want to know where they live, so I can take Unit-02 and go dance the Schuhplattler on their damn houses!

Kaworu had found that feelings like love and lust are the strongest mental buffers against the Call (his subconscious desire to cause Third Impact), so situations where Rei returns his affections (like giving him a "platonic" kiss on Christmas or asking him out on a date) can drown it out entirely.

Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: In chapter 7 Rei is fighting Zeruel all alone. It is about to kill her when Shinji and Asuka show up riding Unit 03. Before start kicking its rear they say in unison:

Shinji and Asuka: "Get away from my friend,"

Precision F-Strike: In chapter 3 Misato demands to know what is being kept from her about the nature of the Evas. Ritsuko tells she gave her all information regarding Eva. Misato's retort is accurate and precise:

Misato:"Bullshit! You're lying!"

Pre-Climax Climax: In chapter 3 Shinji and Asuka made love for first since Asuka did not wanted to have any regrets in the next battle.

Professionals Do It on Desks: In chapter 8, Ritsuko is fed up with being ignored by Gendo, so that she storms inside his office, pounces on his desk and demands being taken right there. So Gendo did.

She'd gone to his office, stormed inside like a force of nature, and all but pounced on him at his desk. He'd finally acquiesced to her very plain desire and taken her, right there in his office. Again.

Prohibited Hero Saves the Day: After Gendo fired them, Shinji and Asuka end up coming to Rei's rescue during the fight against Zeruel by hijacking Unit-03 (which hand been in storage ever since Hikari got absorbed). Though in a subversion, Rei was ultimately the one to deal the finishing blow.

"As long as you'll have me, I promise, [...] Together, forever and always."

And in return Asuka promised:

"Until the end of the world, you and me, against Angels and anything else that tries to hurt us."

Properly Paranoid: Ritsuko thinks that Unit-00 went berserker because it hated her and was trying to kill her. Later on, Rei confirms that the soul inside Unit-00 does hate Ritsuko.

Psychic Link: Rei's link with Lilith is a major plot point, having unlocked access to the latter's memories as a member of the FAR civilization when she was Mind Raped by Arael. After Rei III is informed of this, she realizes that the reverse must also apply, and is able to regain all her lost memories from between Rei II's last memory backup and her Heroic Sacrifice.

Rei:'I remembered being her? Let us see if she remembers being me.'

Psychotic Smirk: After firing Shinji and Asuka for "insubordination", Gendo's face displays a very disturbing smirk while he tells his Sub-commander that should he need them again, he can easily manipulate them into coming back.

Gendo finally turned to give his Sub-Commander a razor-thin smile. "Really, Professor, they are not that hard to manipulate. Despite their ability to Pilot the most potent weapons humanity has ever built, the Children have no real power here."

Punched Across the Room: When Kaworu hints that he might interfere with Shinji and Asuka's relationship, Rei slaps him so hard that he goes flying several feet and crashes into a tree trunk.

Punished for Sympathy: Shinji and Asuka are fired and thrown out. The reason? Bardiel had hijacked the Humongous Mecha that one of their friends was piloting. They were ordered to disregard the pilot and destroy the enemy. They refused to abandon their friend and managed saving the pilot and destroying the enemy. Still Gendo was so furious with them for not following his orders that he declared he had no use for unreliable pilots and fired them.

Raging Stiffie: In chapter 9, Kaworu gets a boner during an argument with Rei. Needless to say, this only makes the First Child even angrier.

Kaworu: The Lilim parts of my mind are... making suggestions for things they want to do with you! You are unfortunately very attractive!

In chapter 2 after getting together, Asuka wonders for an instant if Shinji will not abandon her eventually how everyone do. Panicked, she replies herself:

"No! [...] No no no!"

In chapter 8, when Asuka realizes her mother is inside her giant robot Asuka says mentally a long string of noes as she tries not losing it:

'No no no no do not start losing it, Soryu...

And then she lets out another when she is losing it:

'Nonononononono I want Mama now now now now n— Stop.'

"The Reason You Suck" Speech: In chapter Shinji gets fed up with classmate Chihiro Tanaka treating him as a prize to be won and dissing Asuka and Rei as trying to seduce him. And he makes sure that Tanaka hears about it:

Chihiro: "You and Ayanami have been all over him for weeks, Soryu! This is totally unfair!" Asuka: "This contest was over before it began, Tanaka, [...] You were never good enough for him. He's saved this city even more times than I have. He deserves someone who doesn't just want him as a prize like you do." Chihiro: "And you'll be any better? You've treated him like your private pet, butler, and chew toy since the day you got here! You foreign bitch, I-" Shinji: "Asuka has been my wingmate, partner, and friend since the day we met. We killed an Angel together within two hours of meeting each other. I know she's not just trying to 'bag an Evangelion Pilot' because she's one too. And there is no one here who is braver, smarter, or hotter than her, Tanaka-san. And if you'd ever asked me about it at any time in the last three months, I'd have told you so, instead of just ignoring anything I said when I tried to be polite about telling you I wasn't looking for anyone to 'walk home with' or 'go shopping downtown with'. And if you ever call her that again I will not try to stop her at all when she rips your eyes out."

Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: Shinji, Asuka, Rei and Hikari are fifteen-year-old mecha pilots. Asuka often complains that everybody demand that they act like mature adults when they are on duty... and at the same time Misato will not let Shinji and her sleep together because they are just teenagers.

Red Eyes, Take Warning: When Zeruel is about to striking Shinji and Asuka, Rei's eyes start glowing red. That -together with her growling- was the first sign that she was going berserker. Zeruel got his posterior handed to him by Rei herself shortly after.

Red Oni, Blue Oni: Asuka and Rei. The differences between both become less extreme after Rei stops taking emotion-suppressor meds, but Asuka is still hot-blooded and impetuous and Rei is still quiet and calm. During the story their friendship develops and they become a very close-knit combat unit together with Shinji.

Reformed, but Rejected: After finding out about her HeelFace Turn and that Rei had personally forgiven her, Asuka refuses to let go of her grudge towards Ritsuko. Then again, Ritsuko wasn't expecting to be forgiven that easily either.

Asuka: I'm still not happy with her. I don't care how guilty she feels now. She's going to need a miracle to get on my good side again. She hurt you, Rei, and you know how I feel about people who hurt the ones I... care about.

Reincarnation Romance: Rei and Kaworu are this due to a fan omake that detailed Lilith and Adam as being literal Star-Crossed Lovers becoming Ascended Fanon. Though this is merely by technicality, since Kaworu fell in love with Rei before he had any knowledge of Adam and Lilith's relationship.

Relationship Reveal: In the beginning Misato teases Shinji about his relationship with Asuka, and the audience are led to believe both teenagers remain in the "we like each other but are completely oblivious to each other's feelings so we fight and argue instead of dating" phase... until it is revealed that they got together a while ago and they have been keeping their relationship secret.

Relationship Upgrade: Shinji and Asuka became a couple in chapter 1 which happens two months before the prologue. During their First Kiss Shinji accidentally places his hands on Asuka's hips, which leads her to think he is reciprocating and intensify the kiss. In turn Shinji realizes she is kissing him because she wants to and kisses her back. After breaking their kiss they talk about their feelings, realize each other's feelings and get together.

In chapter 9, Asuka and Shinji could here Misato and Kaji having sex despite Misato trying to be quiet. Made especially frustrating for Asuka since Misato had forbid her and Shinji from having sex until she turns fifteen.

Asuka: We are so getting her back once we hit my birthday.''

Asuka and Shinji also took this into account back when they were keeping their relationship a secret, only having sex when Misato was either out of the house or had gotten drunk before going to sleep.

The Rival: Since they met Asuka always regarded Shinji as her rival, a challenge to beat, the one could best her. After getting together their rivalry becomes more friendly but she still encourages him to push himself so that she keeps feeling challenged and driven to improve her piloting and fighting skills.

Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Several times. If you capture one of the pilots, his/her friends will not leave you alone until you die.

When Leliel swallowed Asuka whole and imprisoned her inside its body Shinji went berserker and tore the Angel into pieces, the whole time roaring: "GIVE HER BACK!"

Bardiel hijacked the Eva Hikari was piloting, locking her inside the giant robot. Shinji, Asuka and Rei managed to get her out of it; then Shinji and Asuka beat it up and Asuka stabbed it over and again until it died.

Robeast: The Angels, giant alien monsters with Eldritch Abomination traits. Due to the changes in the relationships between the three pilots, the battles are very different from canon.

Romantic False Lead: Subverted. When Kaji babysits Shinji and Asuka for several days, Shinji feels jealous because his grilfriend's former crush will be taking care of them, but Asuka reassures him that even though she still finds Kaji yummy she has gotten over it.

As far as it is known, Chihiro Tanaka is not a bad girl — albeit persistent and meddlesome — but Shinji loves Asuka despite of all her flaws.

Rei is Shinji and Asuka's friend, they would do anything for her and they would never hurt her. But when she confesses she loves them both, they are too committed to each other to consider a three-ways relationship (not that she would interfere anyway).

Running Gag: In chapter 4 Asuka tells Shinji: "Pervert. I could hear you thinking it. You are not getting an 'Israfel Special' with me and her!" From that point forward the "Israfel Special" expression (Shinji having a threesome with Asuka and Rei) becomes a running joke between both (and among the readers).

S-U

Sacred First Kiss: Discussed. A random occurrence turns Asuka and Shinji's canonical Awkward Kiss into The Big Damn Kiss, which leads to their first Relationship Upgrade. In chapter 5 they discuss what could have happened if Shinji had not accidentally placed his hands on Asuka's waist and both agree that their First Kiss would have been ruined, leaving them angry, upset and feeling worse than usual.

Before going out Misato asks Shinji and Asuka if they will be alright by themselves. Asuka replies: "Please, Misato. I can handle baka-Shinji. Somehow, I will control myself against his suave, Don Juan-like charms and not let him ravish me. [...] He and I will eat dinner, wash, and I'll send him right to bed." Meaning her bed.

Rei says in front of Hikari and Touji that Shinji and Asuka are fucking like rabbits in such a way that everybody dismisses it as a joke:

Asuka rolled her eyes at him. "You're our friends and need our support right now, and this is serious NERV business. Shinji and I are more than mature enough to stop fussing and focus when it's important." Behind them, Rei quietly said, "Mature? As soon as no one's looking they're constantly making out, really. They're like bonobos on Spring Break. Nothing but 'whumpa, whumpa, whumpa' all the time." There was no change in her usual perfectly deadpan tone. Shinji and Asuka froze. 'Oh holy shit! Rei, what happened to keeping that secret?!' Shinji thought frantically. Touji and Hikari gaped in shock for a moment before exploding into laughter.

Say My Name: In chapter 3 Shinji screams Asuka's name several times when he sees her sinking into the Sea of Dirac, and Asuka screams his as asking help.

Screw Destiny: When Rei faces Kaworu, she wants to destroy him because the spawn of Adam and the children of Lilith cannot coexist, ergo he's a threat to her offspring (and, particularly, her loved ones). However, Kaworu insists that they don't have to be enemies and he chooses his own fate.

Rei: (growling) You will not harm them, Adam-spawn! This world is mine! I will protect my children! They will live! Kaworu: You don't need to do that. Rei: (snarling) Why not? You and I cannot coexist, Child of the White Moon! For all the other lies SEELE has told, they told the truth about that! I know what compels you! You cannot resist the Call to seek your origin! You will inevitably try to unite with Adam and fulfill the drive you cannot deny! And I will not allow you to overwrite all life on this world! Kaworu: I am not your enemy, First Child. Rei: You have no choice! I know how strong the Call is! Kaworu: I am the Angel of Free Will. There is always a choice. And I choose my fate, not the old men of SEELE, whatever they may think. They cannot control me, not like that.

Asuka: "I get impatient, you know that. I want my warm baka-Shinji. It's a good think you always get up before anyone else, too. We don't want to get caught, do we?" Shinji: "I still feel a little bad hiding us from everyone, Asuka. We can't even go out on a weekend on a normal date or anything, and I'd really like to do that." Asuka: "I know. But if Misato found out, she'd make us stop doing this. 'We're too young!' or some other excuse, like we're not soldiers who could die any day."

Once they get together, Ritsuko and Maya also have to keep their relationship a secret since Gendo would probably have them killed if he found out.

Rei figured out that Shinji and Asuka were engaged in a Secret Relationship, but she kept it to herself for a while since she understood their motives to hide it from everyone.

Due to his habit of taking pictures of girls, Kensuke had actually been aware of Kyoko and Sayaka's Secret Relationship for about a year before hooking up with them. He didn't tell anybody beause he knew that it would ruin their reputation and they'd have to break up.

Self-Harm: After Rei dies, Kaworu burns himself with hot water in NERV's showers at least partly to distract himself from the Call.

She Is Not My Girlfriend: Asuka constantly denied that Shinji was her boyfriend before getting together. Ironically, she hates having to put up this act all the time in order to keep her relationship secret after she and Shinji became a couple.

In chapter 5 Touji called them "husband and wife". Cue red faces and denial in unison.

Rei tries to claim that Kaworu isn't her boyfriend in chapter 11, but Asuka manages to get her to admit her feelings over the course of a single conversation.

'Asuka: Boy, those reflexes you learned off me are a bitch.

Shell-Shocked Veteran: Shinji and Asuka are teen kids being forced to wage a war against Eldritch Abominations. The constant battles and hardships were wearing down their precarious mental stability, but after getting together they lean on each other to try to overcome the pain and have something stable to cling to.

At the beginning of chapter 3, Shinji sees Asuka wearing nothing but a towel. He tries very hard to not drool over her naked legs.

A small part of his brain was concentrating on not dropping the hot pot on his feet, because most of it was trying not to drool helplessly over the way Asuka's long, smooth legs disappeared up under the hem of the towel, mixed in with memories of last night that said sight triggered.

Later in the story Rei Ayanami falls for both her fellow pilots and she also notes Asuka has beautiful legs:

Shinji's deep blue eyes... Asuka's crystal blue ones... her long red hair... his sensitive hands... her long legs, his compassion, her fire, her heat...'

Misato, naturally, and even Kaji. The hilarious part is how Shinji and Asuka are now acting as they used to and leaving them to just assume that the pilots are still deep in the Belligerent Sexual Tension phase, when they are in fact very together.

Rei turns this Up to Eleven. To her, Shinji and Asuka's romance is the single most beautiful thing in the world, and she would do anything to make sure that they can be happy together. Merely implying that you might be a threat to that is a Berserk Button for her (as Kaworu quickly found out).

At Asuka's birthday party, she and Shinji discuss the idea of hooking Rei up with Kaworu. They both think he would be good for her, but they just want to make sure that he isn't secretly a SEELE spy first.

Ship Sinking: Shinji and Asuka have both said that while they do love Rei, they're too committed to each other to include her in a threesome relationship.

Ship Tease: In the prologue Misato teases Shinji about being always cooking for Asuka and hints she shouts at him because she wants him paying attention to her. Shortly after it is shown that Shinji and Asuka are already a couple, but Misato does not know.

"You wanna plop down and watch another episode with me, Misato? Shinji and I have been watching it lately. It's like someone heard about NERV, took a lot of drugs, and then tried to make it a comedy-drama-angst-romance with an ensemble cast of traumatized lunatics. It's a cheesy giant robot show, but a lot of fun. Everyone in it is pretty hot, too. Especially that Akram guy. Yow."

Shower of Angst: Shinji and Asuka in chapter 7. After spending two days locked and insolated, without being allowed washing the LCL off their bodies or changing clothes, and being dragged out of their cells only to get fired, they return to their home feeling confused, hurt, miserable and dirty. So that they decide to have a shower together to clean their bodies and lift their spirits. During the shower they mostly held each other while they washed, looking for reassurance and affection.

Shower of Love: Subverted in chapter 7. Shinji and Asuka were about to have sex in the shower when Kaji walked in on them.

She could admit it now, in a slightly more self-conscious part of her mind. He was kind of cute. He was polite and self-effacing to the point it could drive her nuts, but he was also kind, gentle, and could be stupidly brave to almost ridiculous lengths when protecting others. 'He dove into a volcano without a second's thought to save me. No one's ever done anything even close to that for me.' He was an elite Eva Pilot, like her, a 'prime catch' as some of the other girls at school had quietly mentioned. He sometimes showed a spark of energy and anger when she'd pushed at him that secretly thrilled her, the way he would react to her, pushing to match her, making her push just as hard to stay ahead of him. He made her feel alive. He was... a good guy. He'd renewed his promise this morning, when he must have thought she was asleep. He wasn't just saying things for her to hear. He meant it. And now he wanted to be with her.

Single Malt Vision: In chapter 8, Ritsuko is so plastered after drinking wine heavily than she sees three wine bottles instead of two. Unusually, the trope is very much Played for Drama here, as it's used to show just how badly she's dealing with recent events.

It was also very cold, lonely, and empty, save for a cat, two empty bottles of wine, and a crying woman. 'Well... mmaybbe threeee bottles. Cann't tell, they whon stip movin'

Sinister Geometry: In chapter 2, Leliel, the Shadow Angel appears. At the beginning it looks like a white-and-black striped sphere. However its real body is a huge, expanding, two-dimensional shadow.

Skyward Scream: In chapter 3, when Shinji decided that he would rescue Asuka, not matter what, his Evangelion Unit-01 threw back its head and roared.

Sleep Cute: In chapter 8, Asuka couldn't sleep due to her nightmares. So she went to Shinji's room and they slept together, snuggling up under the blankets.

Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: This story explores what could have happened changing a single event of the Eva canon. The result so far is a more idealistic story where the main characters learn to communicate and face their troubles together rather being unable to understand each other and falling apart due to loneliness, lack of communication and hurt.

Slumber Party: After Rei is moved to the apartment next to Misato's, she occasionally stays the night or vice versa. However, the two times that are actually shown are very much Played for Drama. She ends up staying with Asuka and Shinji after Ritsuko gives her an overdose of emotional suppressants, and Asuka stays the night with her when Rei finally reveals her true nature (plus Asuka didn't want to be alone due to Shinji having nearly been killed in an assassination attempt).

Small Name, Big Ego: Chihiro Tanaka believes she is the smartest and most beautiful girl in the school, ergo she will win Shinji's affection, and will not lose to Asuka or Rei -whom she looks down on and frequently puts down-. In reality she is not the best at nothing and there is no chance that she will take Shinji away Asuka or he would choose her rather Rei.

So Proud of You: Subverted. Shinji sought his fathers approval and praise for a long while, and when Gendo congratulated him for his part in defeating Sahaquiel he felt happy but after hearing how his father had treated Rei he decides he was a fool for desiring his approval and being happy of having it earned that time.

Something Only They Would Say: Rei reveals to Kaworu that she's regained her memories of him with five little words, "You... are... a... stupid fish."

Sour Outside, Sad Inside: After their First Kiss Shinji and Asuka have a long talk and Shinji discovers Asuka may look harsh and hard-headed but inwardly she is just so sad, pained and fragile as him.

Spit Take: In chapter 4 Asuka does this when Rei tells that she already has a bond with Shinji.

The Spock: Rei always tries to be logical and rational. Her mindset is: logic makes things clearer and simpler. And thanks to that mindset she starts to break Gendo's control over her. She was being ordered to take a bunch of pills whose purpose was to turn her into an emotionless doll. Asuka and Shinji warned her that her medication regimen was hazardous to her health. She researched, and her research proved Asuka was right. Ergo, Rei stopped taking her medication.

Logic had always come easily to Rei. It made things simple, clear. Something she liked, since her thoughts often felt... muddied, slowed, unclear.

Chihiro Tanaka and other Shinji's female classmates started chasing him obsessively, looking for excuses to spend time with him or chances to flirt with him, trying to have lunch with him or walking with him back to his house... Shinji has made clear that he does not want the attention but they will not stop.

Asuka also had to put up with a horde of boys chasing her even though she made her disinterest clear and blunt. However, since they refused to take "no" for an answer she scared them away most efficiently so that everybody took the hint. She explained this to Shinji in chapter 8:

Shinji:' "Maybe that will finally get them to stop chasing me like I'm a prize to be won. [...] How come I'm the one with the pack after them? You were ten times as popular as I was, a week after you arrived, miss incredibly-hot-exotic-foreign-transfer-student. I know Touji and Kensuke were making crazy amounts of cash selling beauty shots of you almost right away. Why haven't I had to chase away a pack of boys drooling after you?" Asuka: "Because I already had them properly terrified and respectful after I mashed the first two flat when they tried to ask me out the week I got here and refused to take 'no' for an answer, [...] Putting a couple of them on the ground with a few punches when they got rough taught the others to keep off. You're just too polite and sweet to girls to scare them off, my darling baka."

The Stations of the Canon: At the beginning the story seems following the main events normally, but soon it is obvious that Asuka and Shinji getting together is changing the timeline radically and profoundly: Unit 03 gets activated instead of Unit 04, Hikari becomes the Fourth Child, Rei defeats Zeruel, Shinji does not get absorbed into Unit 01, Kaworu shows up before Arael... and all of it makes sense!

Stepford Smiler: For all his cheerful serenity, this is the case with Kaworu. He's nearly always smiling, but Rei notices shadows in his expressions. This is because he has a lot weighing down on him.

Stress Vomit: Subverted. During a scene, several classmates were trying to flirt with Shinji. Their actions were getting Shinji upset, Asuka jealous and homicidal and Rei displeased. So Rei pretended she was distressed and sick and vomited on one of the girls, stopping their onslaught and giving the three of them an excuse to leave quickly.

Actually, Rei was sick from withdrawal; she just decided since she was about to throw up anyway, she might as well shut up the girl who was hurting Shinji and Asuka at the same time.

Stupid Evil: Granted, only the horribly traumatized teenagers who are the main characters can pilot the Eva that are mankind's last, best hope for survival, never mind victory, against the Angels. Can you then tell us why it's such a good idea to go and traumatize them further at every possible opportunity, kicking them when they're down, both figuratively and literally, and doing everything possible to break their will and spirit so they will eventually fail in their assigned task of being pilots? As opposed to doing everything possible to make them comforttable and content so they not only want to keep fighting, but actually fight well?

Gendo temples his hands in a way that hides the lower half of his face, especially his mouth, and smirks.

Stupid Sexy Flanders: Rei becomes extremely close with Shinji and Asuka to the point she confesses she loves both. However, while Shinji and Asuka love her, it's not in that way, and they don't believe they can handle a threesome. Still, Asuka can't help thinking about it...

Asuka: Stupid sexy Rei...

Suggestive Collision: In chapter 4 Rei makes an indiscreet, offhand comment about Shinji touching her in a weird place, prompting Asuka to ask what happened. Rei explained that Shinji went to her apartment and accidentally fell on top of her, touching her right breast. Asuka was not happy about it, but she let it go because it was an accident.

Suspiciously Specific Denial: In chapter 8 Ritsuko decides to up Rei's drug dose because she does not want Rei developing emotions and getting rebellious thoughts. Then she repeats herself that is her only reason, and most definitely she is not doing it because she is afraid that Rei will take Gendo's attention away from her.

'I don't want to have to factor that into the healing process or the brain scans. I'll leave that until they're done. But I definitely need to up her dose. Can't have Rei waking up one day and deciding she wants to start doing her own thinking. Little dolls don't need to think.' She carefully didn't think about little dolls taking a certain Commander's attention away from her. That had nothing to do with it at all. She was no petty, insecure woman scrabbling for any advantage to get ahead, no.

Take a Third Option: Due to her growing bond with Asuka and Shinji Rei considers neither Gendo's way nor SEELE's way are aceptable anymore, and she will find another way to protect her friends:

Decision firmed in her chest. Her friends. Their love. The possibility of her own one day... They had to be protected. Rei no longer wanted to see a world where any of those things could not exist. The Commander's Scenario for Instrumentality was no longer acceptable. Nor was SEELE's. There had to be another way. And Rei would fight for that path, the path that ensured her friends would live to be happy.

Take That!: Chapter 6 devoted a loooong paragraph to explain exactly why Gendo's strategy used to fight Bardiel in canon was stupid:

Shinji gripped the controls harder. He didn't like this. They wouldn't give him any information about what they were about to face, and worse, he couldn't even see his friends. His father had ordered them to deploy in a line, not across the axis of advance, but parallel to it, ensuring that they'd meet the enemy one by one instead of together. They were out there in front of him, somewhere, hidden from his sight behind the small hills and ridges of the area, but in such a way that none of them could cover the others until they'd fallen back from where they were located now. For all the cover and supporting fire he could offer, Shinji might as well have been back in Tokyo-3. He knew he was no general, but it made no sense to him. He really wished Misato was in command. Asuka was at the front of the line, in the position of maximum danger, and he couldn't even see her, much less support and protect her in a fight.

Taking You with Me: Invoked. In chapter 7 Zeruel is ignoring, destroying and obliterating all Nerv's defenses and the Evas seem useless against him. It has already invaded the Geofront and Misato is running out of options. She remembers there were self-destruct charges placed throughout the Geofront for the ultimate contingency and she orders them armed; she also gets ready to call in a nuclear strike on her own location in case nothing else can stop Zeruel.

Talking in Bed: Shinji and Asuka do this a lot after starting sleeping together. Subjects include what might have happened if their First Kiss would have gone wrong, or Gendo's abhorrent treatment of Rei.

Talking to Themself: The morning after getting together, Asuka's side that is full of doubts, insecurities and self-hatred questioned how long Shinji would stay with her before realizing she was useless and pitiful and abandoning her how everyone did. She replied that he promised he likes her and will stay with her.

Tastes Like Diabetes: Invoked. After the first chapter, where Shinji and Asuka share a bed for the first time, the forumites where the story is posted had to immediately book dental appointments.

In chapter 4 Shinji cried with happiness several times because he and Asuka were together and they had made love.

Rei also cries after getting a hug from Shinji and Asuka in chapter 8. She even describes it as "the closest thing she had ever experienced to a moment of perfect happiness."

Asuka started openly weeping while Shinji plays the concerto that he composed for her birthday.

Shinji and Asuka both cried with joy during Their First Time. While Shinji eventually stopped, Asuka kept doing so, before, during, and after, every time they had sex. Every. Single. Time. When Shinji got understandably worried, and lovingly confronts her, Asuka lampshades the trope.

Doctor Akagi was deep into some lecture about the Angel. Shinji tried to listen, hoping she'd offer something to give him hope, but the advanced mathematical diagrams and jargon-laden explanation went mostly past him. The Angel was three nanometers thick? Inverted AT-Field? Imaginary space? The floating sphere was its five-dimensional shadow? What the Hell was a 'Sea of Dirac'? He shook his head.

Tell Me About My Father: After kissing for first time Shinji and Asuka open up and argue that nobody ever talked to them about their deceased mothers, not matter how many times they asked.

Tempting Fate: Tired of putting up with their "insubordination" Gendo fires Shinji and Asuka, his two best pilots, saying the dummy plugs will be adequate substitutes. When Fuyutsuki questions his good judgement Gendo reiterates the dummy plugs will suffice and there is nothing to be concerned about. Cue Zeruel coming along thirty-six hours later, tearing apart the drone-controlled Evas easily, and Shinji and Asuka having to perform a last-minute appearance to save Rei.

Test Kiss: This story's point of divergence from canon is Asuka and Shinji's Test Kiss. Asuka talks Shinji into kissing, and during the kiss he realizes it is a hint of her feelings and kisses her back.

Thanks for the Mammary: In chapter 4 Rei mentions that Shinji had felt her "softest part" earlier. When Asuka demands knowing what she was talking about, Rei explains Shinji had accidentally fallen on top of her when she was naked, and his hand grasped her right breast. She added it was not an unpleasant sensation. Cue Shinji hunching and Asuka directing a Death Glare at him.

It actually sets off the entire plot; in the very first non-prologue chapter, the canon Awkward Kiss between Shinji and Asuka turns into The Big Damn Kiss, the two of them admit their feelings to each other, and the rest of the fic is spent exploring just how drastically the course of the story is changed by Asuka and Shinji being a loving and mutually supportive couple.

One of those changes is Shinji and Asuka playing matchmakers and getting Hikari and Touji together.

In chapter 8, Misato is fed up with lying to herself and pretend she and Kaji have a "friends with benefits" relationship despite of her never getting over him. After pillow talk, they agree to get together again.

After getting together Shinji and Asuka spent a while trying to define the limits of their Secret Relationship. During a talk Shinji told Asuka that, even if making out was nice, he was willing to take it slow because their relationship was special and he did not want to screw it up. Later, after nearly getting killed by Leliel, Asuka says Shinji that she wants to bond with him completely because they might get killed at any time and she does not want to have any regrets. So that they do.

Kensuke, Kyoko, and Sayaka's first time was during a camping trip, about a week before Asuka's birthday party. The events surrounding it were covered in the second KSK omake.

In chapter 2, Asuka is pondering her and Shinji's new relationship. At one point she thinks outloud that having someone wanting to be with her is frightening.

'Alright, Soryu, quit dodging the issue. Yeah, losing purity points was fun and you can't wait to do it again, but that's not why you're hiding in the bathroom, afraid to look him in the eye right now, is it? He... said things last night. Made promises. He just did it again. That stupid, clumsy, dense baka... likes you. And you like him. He understands what it feels like. He's just like you. You're not alone. And he wants to stay with you.' "Which is Gott damn terrifying..." she whispered out loud.

In chapter 6 Shinji and Asuka are detained and kept in cells for two days for "insubordination". While Asuka is locked and insolated she yells very loudly what she thinks about Gendo Ikari, his orders, and getting arrested in spite of rescuing an endangered pilot, killing the enemy without destroying the hijacked Unit and winning the battle.

Three-Way Sex: Discussed. After Rei has been ordered to spend some more time with Shinji and Asuka (who, unbenknownst to anyone else at that point, are now an item). Asuka firmly vetoes the idea while Shinji protests that it genuinely hadn't occurred to him. Then we find out that Rei wouldn't say no if they offered either... Asuka's Unusual Euphemism for it, "The Israfel Special", went on to become a minor meme on the forums where A&T is posted.

Time Skip: A minor in chapter 5. The last segment happens several weeks after the former.

Title Drop: Asuka does a title drop in chapter 8 when she decides to trust Misato with an important secret the three main characters have been keeping:

"But on the advice and trust of my beloved baka, I'm willing to trust you not to take this to NERV."

Token Heroic Orc: Kaworu is the only adamite angel who is firmly on the side of humanity, the others all being rampaging beasts whose actions would indirectly wipe out humanity if left unchecked. Even Asuka, who by her own admission was raised for the sole purpose of killing angels, continues to view him as a friend when Rei reveals his true nature.

Rei, I've spent nearly my whole life training for one thing: How to kill Angels in Unit-02. There's one Angel left. But... Kaworu is not just some giant monster trying to smash Tokyo-3 and end the world. He's a person... our friend. He's fought beside us for months, and you're saying he'd rather die than do what he's 'meant' to do. And today I literally just watched him take a bullet for my Shinji. That kind of counts for a bit. You vouch for him and... love him. Well, that seals it. We're saving him too.

Too Dumb to Live: Gendo actually fires his two best Pilots for going against orders and pulling off a total victory anyway, thinking the new Dummy Plug system will suffice despite never being combat-tested. Even better, the timing of this means that Zeruel, the Angel of Might shows up soon afterwards... meaning Gendo's suicidal overconfidence kicked in at the worst possible time.

Took a Level in Badass: The pilots in general, but special mention goes to Rei who went from being the least effective (albeit most reliable) pilot to giving a good showing against Zeruel.

Shinji and Asuka became happier and less gloomy after getting together. Shinji even stopped needing his headphones to escape from reality because he was glad and at peace.

Rei stopped taking her feeling-numbing medication on Asuka's advice. Afterwards she started bonding with her fellow pilots and she also became happier and smiling more often (covertly so that she did not clue Gendo or Ritsuko in on her changes).

After getting together Shinji and Asuka gradually become more optimistic and less depressed since they know now they are not alone and they are loved.

As Rei gets closer to her fellow pilots her outlook changes radically. Before she wished for the peace of oblivion and thought Instrumentality was the only way to achieve it. Now she refuses allowing her friends' bond dissapear and is determined to find another way.

Took a Level in Kindness: After she and Shinji get together, Asuka starts being nicer and kinder to Shinji and Rei because she knows she is not alone anymore and she does not need to push people away. Unfortunately she cannot display it openly out of fear of being separated from Shinji in the event that someone finds out that they have become a couple.

Tranquil Fury: In chapter 8, Ritsuko notes during a test that Shinji looks calm and talk softly, but he is downright furious. She thinks that it's very enervating.

In the prologue Shinji thinks of how untidy Misato is and he remembers when he moved in her home and he found garbage literally everywhere:

She shook the empty can at him for a second before arcing it over her shoulder into the recycling bin without even a look. Shinji sighed. At least he'd managed to train her that much. When he'd first moved in, he'd spent hours cleaning and collecting the cans that had been haphazardly piled and dumped all over the apartment, including some in places that just made him shake his head in confusion. In the shower, on top of the TV, all over the balcony... in the linen closet?

Rei's apartment is a real mess littered with garbage. When Shinji and Asuka visit her home, Shinji notices the same dirty bandages and trash that he saw when he visited several months before were still piled in one corner.

Do NOT show dissociative drugs to Asuka, especially not a freaking cocktail of them!

Do NOT harm, or threaten to harm, women whom Shinji treasures.

Doing either will leave both in a withering heap terrified in a corner... and send their Evas into a berzerker-frenzy against you... oh look, Gendo's smirking again.

Triang Relations: A Type 6, with Asuka and Shinji being in a relationship, and Rei coming to love both of them, but Rei is unwilling to rock the boat by trying for the "Israfel Special". Much to the frustration and disappointment of many of the readers!

True Companions: Hoping getting her sync rates up, Gendo commands Rei spending more time with Shinji and Asuka. As a result of it, their bonds strengthened and they became true friends and siblings-in-arms. Hurt one of them and the remainder two will ensure that you REGRET it. Bardiel and Zeruel learnt this the hard way.

"I don't know! I just keep thinking about it! I'm not supposed to be attracted to boys like you! I'm supposed to want a real man like Kaji! I'm not supposed to be wondering what it would feel like to kiss you, to have your arms around me! It's not supposed to feel this good to do it! It's not supposed to feel so good to be lying here with you! I shouldn't want this to never end..." Her outburst ran down into confusion. "Why is it you?"

Tsundere: Asuka becomes a sweet type after fully committing herself to her relationship with Shinji, frequently fending off would-be suitors with a healthy amount of threatening gazes and verbal attacks.

And in later chapters, Rei of all girls became a harsh type towards Kaworu. This is partly because she's biologically compelled to feel oppressed by his very existence, but as the author has pointed out, the closest thing she has to an example of normal teenager behaviour is Asuka.

When Shinji and Asuka start spending time with Rei, they realize many alarming facts about her which explain her weirdness: she doesn't remember her mother, she was taken in and raised by Gendo, she has no friends or life outside of NERV, she's being forced to take drugs which keep her unemotional and submissive, she's been trained to be completely and unwaveringly loyal to Commander Ikari, obeying his orders to the letter and without hesitation, she would kill herself if she was ordered to do so... They are so horrified that they help her to cut her puppet strings.

Rei: I thought you disliked me, because I was a 'doll'. Asuka: Well... yeah. I did. But it's a lot harder to blame you for acting that way now that I know you're drugged like this. That's why I reacted so strongly... my step-mother tried something like that with pills when I was younger. I know what it's like. It's not like I think you would kill yourself or something just because Commander Ikari ordered you to or such. Rei: If I was ordered to do so, I would. Asuka: What?! Are you crazy? Why? Rei: He has raised me for years. He cares for me. If he gave that order, I would trust he had a necessary reason for it... He is all I have.

Asuka gets even angrier when she realizes that NERV tried to do the exact same thing to her, raising her since she was three to be a good, obedient little soldier.

The Unapologetic: Gendo does not make a habit of apologizing... ever. He fired his two best pilots for "insubordination" when following orders would have got them hurt or killed, stating that he would replace them with the more reliable and more efficient dummy plug system. In the next battle Zeruel easily destroyed the dummy plugs and it would have killed everyone if Shinji and Asuka had not returned of their own volition. Did Gendo rue his words, think he was wrong and apologize? Not at all. When he next calls them into his office, he makes it abundantly clear that he is only commending and rehiring them because he has been ordered to, and expresses no regret whatever for his actions.

In chapter 3, after retrieving Asuka from the Sea of Dirac, Shinji and Rei stood by her bedside in the hospital room until she regained consciousness.

In chapter 8 when Ritsuko comes around after getting hurt Maya is by her side. She had spent hours waiting for her waking up.

Maya: I... I don't know, Akagi-sempai. I... I left Central Dogma as soon as the combat alert was over and came straight here. I... um... [...] I... haven't left your side since then. That was... um... last night. Afternoon... er... Ritsuko:(thinking) ...you haven't left my side since the end of the fight, and I woke up with you asleep on my leg and holding my hand.

If Doctor Akagi had been watching, she might have noticed the careful rigidity that Rei held her face to melt swiftly into a far more eerie stillness.

Uncanny Valley Girl: Rei was this due to being induced by scarily large doses of various tranquilisers to make her more compliant, and after she stops taking the pills Rei slowly begins to show a normal range of human emotion.

Underestimating Badassery: Gendo thinks that his pilots are easily manipulable tools with no real power -so that he fires Shinji and Asuka without second thoughts-. Yet those kids were helping Rei to become her own person (without his knowledge), were slowly discovering the secret of the Evas together (again, without his knowledge), and when the dummy plug system failed they returned on their own and defeated the enemy.

Undying Loyalty: In chapter 2 as Asuka sleeps, Shinji swears he will be hers always and forever (although, it turns out, he only thought Asuka was asleep, and she heard the whole thing). Throughout the story he sticks by her through thick and thin, and insists he will go wherever she goes.

The Un Favourite: Shinji to Gendo. After finding out that his father raised Rei after abandoning him, Shinji got furious, wondering why he was not good enough and why his father dumped him and then took another child in.

Shinji: He raised her. He's 'all she has'? He... he... [...] How could he?! [...] Once a year! Once a year I'd see him at mother's grave. He'd barely say three sentences to me! I ran away once, and he just had the police take me back to my sensei. He didn't even call. I spent half my childhood wondering what I'd done that made him just dump me at the train station and walk away, just seeing his back retreating over and over again in every fucking nightmare! Why wasn't I good enough? [...] And then he turns around and raises Ayanami?! Why?! Why did he abandon me and take her?!

Unresolved Sexual Tension: Before getting together Shinji there was so much sexual tension between Shinji and Asuka... Shinji was very smitten over Asuka and she was the subject of more than a few of his fantasies, and Asuka could not figure out why Shinji was on her mind so much. In the first chapter (which happens chronologically several weeks before the prologue) they finally realize each other's feelings, and when Asuka asked Shinji why he never reacted to her hints if he wanted her so much he answered he had not noticed she was dropping hints... she pointed out—among other things—she groped herself in front of him.

Asuka tells Shinji that he is not getting an "Israfel Special" with Rei and her (meaning a threesome). Quickly the "Israfel Special" expression becomes a Running Gag.

Later in chapter 5 Shinji considers that he and Asuka are pretty vocal when "entangling their AT-Fields".

During that scene, Asuka tells him "Now get your 'Positron Rifle' into 'firing position', quickly." as an euphemism for sex.

Unwanted Harem: Shinji's all female classmates (Chiriko, Megumi...) are chasing after him. However he only wants Asuka. Unfortunately he and Asuka can not tell they are together (since Nerv could try to separate them), so that Shinji resorts to run away from those girls as Asuka and Rei team up to scare his would-be suitors and drive them away.

Ironically, Rei is the only member of Shinji's unwanted harem that Shinji and Asuka would be willing to accept, but she will not try to seduce either of them precisely because she loves them both and she refuses to disrupt their bond.

Unwitting Pawn: Shinji and Asuka figuring out that they're unwitting pawns is an important subplot. When they open up to each other and start talking about their childhoods and their piloting experiences, they figure out that Gendo and SEELE are keeping things from them and realize that they're being used to further some kind of sinister scheme.

Asuka really hates when someone hurts Shinji. It enrages her more than anything. And she is short-tempered as it is! In chapter 4 a classmate was hitting on Shinji and inadvertently making him feeling bad. As a result Asuka was having a nuclear meltdown and plotting ways to kill her:

But from someone like Takamori, it was just a reminder of how he didn't feel worthy of the title most of the time. 'Fricking skank is trying to worm her way in to grab a piece of my Shinji, and making him feel like crap doing it. I will eat your eyes, bitch! How dare you hurt him!' She couldn't restrain herself anymore. Watching one of these slags make Shinji's smile crumble enraged her in a way she'd never felt before. Time to do something, anything to make her leave him alone. She frantically tried to come up with a good excuse to interrupt. Her first preference, stabbing Takamori in the neck with her pen, was right out. 'No, can't stab her brains out... beside, strangling her with my bare hands is so much more personal and intimate...'

Rei takes this even further after hooking up with Kaworu. When he ends up getting shot in a SEELE assassination attempt, she uses her AT field to tear them limb from limb and leaves the rest of their bodies in such a mangled mess that one NERV trooper comments that it looks like they were "hit by a train".

Vomit Indiscretion Shot: One of the side effects of Rei going off the wide variety of drugs that Gendo and Ritsuko had prescribed her was severe nausea, resulting in a few incidents of having to throw up. One incident had her puking all over one of her classmates, to Asuka's delight, as the victim was one of the girls who kept trying to steal Shinji from her.

Wacky Marriage Proposal: During a moment of Anger Born of Worry in Chapter 11 following SEELE's assassination attempt on the Pilots, Misato accidentally proposes to Kaji. She doesn't even realize what she's done until he says "yes".

W.A.F.F.: This story's premise is: "What if Shinji and Asuka's kiss had NOT gone wrong?" The answer to that question is — among other stuff — loads of waffy romance.

Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: Given their lack of people skills, going to school and talking to other kids is harder for Shinji, Asuka and Rei than fighting massive aliens. In chapter 8 Shinji says he is more afraid of going to his classmates and coming clean about his and Asuka's relationship than of fighting Sachiel.

We Used to Be Friends: Misato and Ritsuko were friends, but due to Ritsuko's behavior they're falling apart. In chapter 8, Misato wonders if Ritsuko is still her friend.

"Well Done, Son!" Guy: Subverted. For a long while Shinji strove to earn his father's approval. Throughout the story he stops caring thanks to his stronger bonds with Asuka and Rei -and realizing how his father treats the latter-. However Gendo still thinks his son is desperate for his approval and attention and he can use that desire to manipulate him.

Asuka:' Jock-Stooge, sharp as a brick as always. I have no idea what you see in him, Hikari.'

What If?: What if Shinji would have kissed Asuka back when she kissed him? The answer is: Shinji and Asuka getting together, getting very close to Rei, and a bunch of other changes.

When She Smiles: When Asuka sees Shinji acting gloomy, moody or depressed she encourages him to smile because she thinks his smile is beautiful.

In chapter 3:

Once they were almost alone on the bus, Asuka felt safe to talk to him, and rested her head on her arms on the back of Shinji's seat. Shinji was staring out the window, a faintly sad look on his face. She poked him in the back of the head. "Why the glum look, Shinji?"Shinji blinked and snapped out of his distracted fugue. "Uh? Oh, it's nothing."She poked him again. "Bullshit. Talk, Third. I like it when you smile too."

Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: On top of her pediophobia from canon, Asuka suffers from pharmacophobia (a fear of medication) due to her step-mother drugging her with emotional suppressants when she was younger. She almost had a panic attack when she discovered that Rei had been placed on similar drugs.

Wicked Stepmother: Asuka's stepmother had an affair with Asuka's father when Asuka's mother Kyoko was still alive, and married him as soon as Kyoko was dead and buried. Obviously, Asuka and she did not get along well, so the woman tried to use drugs on her stepchild to turn her into a placid, obedient daughter. Bonus points for actually having a Red-Headed Stepchild.

Will They or Won't They?: Subverted. Shinji and Asuka are together but their relationship is secret, and Misato and everyone else wonder if they will get together.

Witch with a Capital B: Subverted. Asuka often calls Ritsuko a witch whenever the latter does something to anger her (usually involved Rei), but this is actually short for witch doctor. She has on several occasions called her a bitch during the same conversations anyways.

With Due Respect: Vice Commander Fuyutsuki asks Commander Ikari if it was really a good idea firing their two best pilots after a successful mission only because they disobeyed his orders. Gendo dismissively blows his concerns off, but it turns out that they were well-founded.

When he starts dating Asuka Shinji realizes she is his reason to keep living and fighting, even if he hates fighting.

Before bonding with Shinji and Asuka, Rei wished to die and rest in peace. After befriending them she decided that she had something to fight for.

Worthy Opponent: Asuka regards Shinji as hers: he is nearly as good as her, and he can challenge her in the battlefield, forcing her to improve her piloting and fighting skills and perform better. After getting together she looks forward to make him fight hard to keep up with her, and when he feels glum because he seems unable to match her, she cheers him up and encourages him to keep chasing her.

Wrong Assumption/Wrong Genre Savvy: When Gendo fired Shinji and Asuka he was not concerned, because he thought the Dummy Plugs would be an adequate substitute, and otherwise neither Shinji nor Asuka would leave or refuse to pilot again because Shinji yearned for his approval and attention and Asuka's self-image was utterly tied to being a pilot. Oh, and he also thought Shinji's feelings towards Asuka were unrequited infatuation. Ordinarily, this would be correct- this was indeed the status of things in the canon timeline and a reasonable assumption of how things could have gone. However: the dummy plugs were NOT a good enough substitute; Shinji and Asuka's relationship was of the Belligerent Sexual Tension nature, and it had been resolved unbeknownst to him, so neither of them cared for or depended on his approval anymore. Cue freaking I-eat-Evas-for-breakfast Zeruel, easily destroying the Evas piloted by Dummy Plugs, nearly killing Rei, storming the Geofront and very nearly killing everyone because Gendo had been idiotic and suicidal enough to fire his best pilots!

Wrong Name Outburst: In Chapter 8, Ritsuko gets irritated after Gendo murmurs Yui's name while having sex with her.

You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Shinji and Asuka both give this to each other often, and both give it to Rei at various points. Shinji, in particular, continually reassures Asuka of this to help assuage her fairly massive insecurity and self-image issues. Comes to a head when Gendo fires both Shinji and Asuka for defying orders in the Bardiel fight, thinking the Dummy Plug system will suffice as a replacement, at which point the effects of Shinji's ongoing use of this trope become apparent to both of them, and Shinji has his biggest challenge in pulling off this trope yet.

In chapter 1, after having a long talk, Asuka and Shinji realize they are not alone, since they are alike. They are overjoyed.

In chapter 4 Asuka declares this triumphantly to Rei:

Asuka:"Well yeah. I did. But it's a lot harder to blame you for acting that way now that I know you're drugged like this. That's why I reacted so strongly my step-mother tried something like that with pills when I was younger. I know what it's like. It's not like I think you would kill yourself or something just because Commander Ikari ordered you to or such."Rei:"If I was ordered to do so, I would."Asuka:"What?! Are you crazy? Why?"Rei:"He has raised me for years. He cares for me. If he gave that order, I would trust he had a necessary reason for it. [...] He is all I have."Asuka:"Jesus fuck, Wondergirl! Don't ever do that! Kill yourself just because you were told to?! I mean Gott! Never! We're soldiers, yeah, and we could die anytime, but never just on someone's say-so! Make it for a reason worth it! Look at baka-Shinji! He didn't jump into a volcano because someone ordered him to! He did it against orders, because he thought I was worth risking his life for!" 'And don't you ever risk yourself like that again, you stupid, brave idiot of mine. I love you so Gottdamn much. My damn martyr baka-Shinji ' "He'd do the same for you, just like he said, and and so would I! Commander Ikari's not 'all you have'! You're not alone! You, and me, and Shinji, we all look out for each other because there's no one else who can in a battle!"

Later in that chapter Asuka tells Shinji she is not alone anymore thanks to him:

Asuka:"Would you want to be like Wondergirl? If your father had raised you, you might have ended up like her: a drugged robot ready to die when he orders you to. I If you had acted l like that, if you'd been raised that way, do you think Misato would have taken you in, that you'd be living here, that we'd be together? If you acted like her, I'd never have kissed you, and we wouldn't be lying in bed like this right now." She pulled his head down to hers for a kiss. "I like you the way you are, my baka. You're just like me. You can understand me and my pains because you suffered them too. I'm glad you're here and the man you are, Shinji. I was as alone as you, before. And if you weren't here, I still would be."

Your Cheating Heart: As they opened up to each other and talked about their pasts in chapter 1, Asuka told Shinji her father did not mourn her late mother long, hinting he cheated on her with the nurse who was supposed to take care of her.

You're Not My Father: Done indirectly by Asuka in chapter 9 when she revised her will and next of kin stuff, and she cut her father and her step-mother out of her will, declaring "Screw my father and that woman, Shinji gets everything". From that point on, she doesn't regard her parents as family.

You Didn't See That: Shinji, Asuka and Rei are talking with a classmate. When their classmate asks if Rei is implying Asuka and Shinji have had sex, Asuka denies it. Trying to placate her, the girl says that Shinji would obviously never do anything indecent with Asuka. Infuriated, Asuka replies that Shinji would do anything he could with her, all night long, and beg for more. Then she pauses and mutters:

"That didn't just happen and none of you remember anything. Or I will scoop out your brains and make a pie, understood?"

You Need to Get Laid: Chapter 4 begins the morning after Shinji and Asuka made love for first time. Rather moping and feeling sorry as usual, Shinji cried with joy, hummed and danced. Misato noted that he seemed feeling unusually good.

You Shall Not Pass!: Triumphantly declared by Rei towards Zeruel. Due to a monumental moment of stupidity on Gendo's part (he had fired Shinji and Asuka because they had won a battle by ignoring his orders) she is forced to fight it alone. Despite the massive power difference she makes her best to hold it back, and refuses to lie down, even though Zeruel was trashing her. Then Shinji and Asuka hijacked an Eva and came along to help her. Zeruel attacked them... And Rei went berserker and killed it.

You Won't Feel a Thing: Ritsuko said this to Rei before giving her an increased dosage of her emotional suppressants.

Zeerust: In chapter 8 Shinji and Asuka are watching laserdiscs. Laserdiscs. In 2015. Justified when the writer points out that technological development in the original proper series never went past The '90s: Rei uses a bulky cell phone, Shinji a walkman, and the children play a Sega console.

Misato (inebriated): "Rule number one! 'Women are crazy'! [...] Rule number two! Asuka is a woman. [...] Like, you think she's just yelling at you alln the time because she'z angry? Nope! She want to you pay attention to her! That's how she says it. Oh yeah, that's rule numnar three! Women aren't going to say everything they say, but you're supposed ta hear it all anyways. And not hear some of the things they do say, becauze they don't really mean them."

Shinji: "'Women are crazy', huh?" Asuka: "Mmm, yes, we are. How else would we put up with men?"

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